What is the deal with giving your kid a last name as a first name?

[Nyaricus]

... I'm a Dwarf by build...

Heh Welcome to the club.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

My first, middle, and last names are all common as first and last names. Causes people no end of confusion, as they often interchange them, refer to me by last name when they mean first name, and vice versa. Luckily, I wear a nametag and answer to almost anything (including "Hey, you!").

And I'm a IIIrd ... so three generations of dealing with that BS. Luckily, I don't have kids, 'cause if I had a son the temptation of sticking the little bastard with the same name problem and a pretentious IVth would be too much to resist.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I like unique names, but giving a kid an off the wall name is setting them up to be discriminated against.

On the other hand, I met a guy named 'Hurricane'. Not a nickname - he's Hurricane on his birth certificate.

Is there anything you couldn't accomplish with a name like 'Hurricane'?

-Hyp.

 

[Aurora]

On the other hand, I met a guy named 'Hurricane'. Not a nickname - he's Hurricane on his birth certificate.

Is there anything you couldn't accomplish with a name like 'Hurricane'?

-Hyp.

Being taken seriously.

 

[Lewis526]

My dad always hated being a "junior," so he refused to saddle me with "III." He goes by his middle name, so he gave me that as his first name, and I got his mom's maiden name as a middle name. I can't express how satisfying it is to be the one-and-only with my name in the family, and would always recommend not juniorizing or numberfying your sons. Now doing it to your daughters, that's original, and gets extra credit.

Back on topic, though. I've also noticed this trend of giving children last names for first names. What's worse, in my opinion, is giving your daughter a boy's name, or giving your son a girl's name. The trick is, how can you tell which last name is going to sway towards girls, and which towards boys? What if you name your son "Riley" before it gets popular (I don't think it's a popular one now, but we're all sheep without even knowing it), and then two years later everyone is naming their daughters "Riley"? It's not as bad as being a boy named Sue, but I'd prefer to play it safe.

 

[Nyaricus]

What if you name your son "Riley" before it gets popular (I don't think it's a popular one now, but we're all sheep without even knowing it), and then two years later everyone is naming their daughters "Riley"? It's not as bad as being a boy named Sue, but I'd prefer to play it safe.

Actually, I've known at least 3 Riley's which are male, and none which are are female. One of them is actually a fairly close friend.

Just my XP

cheers,
--N

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Riley was my daughter-dog's name (RIP), so it will always be associated with a girl's name to me.

 

[Pbartender]

On the other hand, I met a guy named 'Hurricane'. Not a nickname - he's Hurricane on his birth certificate.

I once knew a girl named Summer Streets... We always thought it sounded like the assumed "stage names" names celebrities often take.

I also knew a guy with the middle of "Sodapop". Apparently, his parents were awfully fond of Susan Eloise Hinton.

 

[jaerdaph]

It's official. I'm naming my next kid "Wheaton".

 

[Kaodi]

While there are certain cases where names are truly surnames and not proper names, that you cannot forget that many surnames are in truth, proper names.

Take my own name, for instance. Ostensibly, I was named after the surname of two of my great-grandparents, ------son, and so my name is ------. However, when you think about it, that really just means that I am named after my distant ancestor, the father of the first to use the name ------son.

Of course, giving your daughter a first name that ends with -son, now that is really distasteful, hehehe... And yet, for some reason, people do it.