How did you (or would you) name your child?

[Lucky]

We are having a boy!

After taking a look at the name list we are building it occurred to me, what if we find the perfect names just to realize when we meet our little guy it doesn't fit him at all? it's hard to imagine how our little one will look like with our mix.

The thought came from a comment from a woman who did my nails yesterday, while I think her views are very closed minded and a bit uncultured, I do see her point when there is no connection whatsoever, so even if our child turned out to look all mexican or all american I like to think it will still make sense and the names we choose feel right.

Also there is the last name issue,
here in Mexico it is:
"1stNAME 2ndNAME fatherSURNAME motherSURNAME"
of course you can skip the second/middle name or add a third one. Our last names sound weird together :/ so we might just use his like in the USA.

[lucybelle]

I married a Costa Rican and we ALWAYS joke about the names we would give our hypothetical children. My last name is horribly ugly and German, and his is nice and Latin. If we have children they will get both, just like in Mexico, and they would have to deal with it.

Also, since being a member of this forum I've learned in some parts of the world it's quite common to not name a child until 1-2 months after they are born. So if you want to meet your little one before deciding on a name, go for it.

And that lady doing your nails seems really out of touch. Don't listen to her. People of all sorts of colors, backgrounds and heritage have names from all around the world. Whatever you decide on will be perfect.

[Bluejay Belle]

I agree with lucybelle. Do what YOU want - he is your child after all. I wouldn't worry about what ethnicity he looks more like, as Lucybelle stated, people have all sorts of names regardless of where their families are from.

When I get married, I like the idea of two apellidos, and assuming my husband and I have a short enough name combo, the kids could get it too.

[Lilly9886]

We talked about that too, actually! My bf is Mexican! We are not sure yet how we will name our children (in the future) or how will my name be after the wedding. :P

I kind of like the 2 last name thing, but here in Austria (Europe) it would just be weird I think. I would like my kids to have different last names in my country, and then another on in his (with the 2 last names)... it will depend where we will live I guess

Our names sound not too bad together, I love his last name, but it's kind of long and very latin, so it might be weird anyways for the kids here, imagine with 2 last names ^^

In Mexico, the tradition is also very common to give your son/ daughter your name or your fathers/ mothers or grandfathers/ grandmothers, I think I don't like that very much, but we'll see, maybe as a second name.

I think it's good to have a few ideas what you'd like to name your kid, but decide on the day (or 1-2 days after) what his name is going to be!

I think when I was born, my parents decided on a name, my dad didn't like it after a day or so and they changed it!

Do you want to tell us your ideas about first names? Do you have any preferences yet?

Lucybelle, I would really like to know your two last names now - I'm curious! Especially because my mother tongue is German

[milaya]

My children are going to grow up in Japan, so they're getting Japanese names.
I love Japanese names are lot more than Danish names, so it's great, but if my kids were to grow up in Denmark, I would consider some more European sounding, Japanese names.
We have decided on names already, if the child comes and for some reason doesn't "look" their name, maybe we'll find a new one (I have two girl names I like anyway...), but it's an overall "feel" thing, not whether my kids looks more Japanese or European.

[talim]

Both me and my SO are czech, but he has interesting, foreign-like surname, so I thought about some foreign-sounding, unusual names for our future kids. My top names for girl are now Arana or Arlia, but my SO doesn't agree, so I think we will have to compromise somehow. If my SO would be from different country, I would like to give our children names suitable for the country they will grow up in, just like milaya said.

[alittlemind]

My SO is also mexican I often wonder whether or not the names we pick will end up suiting them. SO loves the name Alejandro, but I can't imagine it on a little boy with caucasian features. And what if we pick John, and he ends up looking like his dad?

But at the same time, we'll ultimately end up naming them whatever we like and in the end I don't think it'll end up mattering as much as people like to think. My SO's name is Jose and he goes by Joe, both names fit him just fine.

The children will for sure only end up with his last name. I hate two last names and they're both difficult and bulky. I'd much prefer them getting his simple, flowy, last name.

Either way, it's up to you to do whatever you like. And if you pick a name and feel the need to change in within a day or a week or whatever, there's really no harm in that. Good luck

[Lucky]

The main issue with our last names is not the length or that they sound too complicated, they actually both short and simple in each other's languages... but they kind of blend in together when you say it out loud, making it sound like this long complicated thing in both languages.

I wouldn't be comfortable waiting so long after the baby is born, before I knew the gender my relatives were asking about names already! but maybe I should keep a few we like and make the final choice once we meet him. It's silly really that I care about what that lady said, me having a Lebanese first name and English middle one haha, I guess I am used to exotic names for girls but keep it old fashioned for boys.

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@Lucy: german last names can be so cool! I dated a guy with a very unusual german last name and I loved it, my last name was so short and simple compared to his it was funny to think how the poor kid's name would end up if we ever had one.

@Lilly: In mexico women don't have official married names, we keep our legal name in every document, just like it is written on our birth certificate, so Maria Lopez Garcia will always be that for opening a bank account regardless if she is married or not, she may use "Maria Lopez de hubby-surname-here" among friends and family though, so if there is a name change in your country, you might want to make that the official one, if you like the sound of it that is

@Milaya: I love japanese names and well the whole language really, I wish I had an excuse to use them!

@little: I looove the name Alexander, I can't use it because my cousin named her little girl Alexa, it sounds cooler than Alejandro if you ask me, more flexible too when it comes to language and/or looks, nickname is still Alex. We are focusing on neutral names like that, english/spanish friendly.

PS. about tradition, it depends on the family, mine actually avoids giving similar names within the family including close relatives.

[Zephii]

I think babies look like babies. No one comes out looking like a William or Delaney, they are given the name and people associate that name with that person. I look like a Miriam, because people know me as Miriam, not because I look Hebrew.
Our daughter has an Egyptian name, we have no Egyptian heritage

So go with something you both like, that grows on you over time, and that isn't asking for the child to get picked on. (Like if your last name is Jameson, be kind and don't name your boy James. If your last name is Parker, don't name him Peter. )

I'd also suggest, if you're easily swayed by people's comments and opinions, don't tell anyone what names you have chosen or are thinking about. It's personal for your little family. People are much less likely to be nasty about a name if it's already attached to the baby than if it's a suggestion for an unborn child.

We need to get ourselves a parenting forum.

[mllebamako]

In my SO's culture, babies are usually named after a family member. We're using his last name so it was important to me that the middle name come from my culture or my family so that our kids names don't just reflect his culture.

The names that we've picked out go like this:
for a boy: first[his dad's name]middle[my brother's name]last[his/our last name]
for a girl: first[a Malian name we like]middle[a French/American name we like]last[his/our last name]

I'd also suggest, if you're easily swayed by people's comments and opinions, don't tell anyone what names you have chosen or are thinking about. It's personal for your little family. People are much less likely to be nasty about a name if it's already attached to the baby than if it's a suggestion for an unborn child.

I so agree with this! We only told a very small group of people (aka my friends on LFAD) and I'm glad it's been that way. I really think I'd be overanalyzing our name choices and trying to gauge people's reactions if we had told everyone who asked me. And everyone asks. Like, no random waitress, I don't need to tell you about my future name choices.

[Lilly9886]

I guess I am used to exotic names for girls but keep it old fashioned for boys.

In my SO's culture, babies are usually named after a family member. We're using his last name so it was important to me that the middle name come from my culture or my family so that our kids names don't just reflect his culture.

The names that we've picked out go like this:
for a boy: first[his dad's name]middle[my brother's name]last[his/our last name]
for a girl: first[a Malian name we like]middle[a French/American name we like]last[his/our last name]

Is it common everywhere to name boys after family/ more traditional and no one cares about that for girls?? I think it's funny!

[melarie]

I'd also suggest, if you're easily swayed by people's comments and opinions, don't tell anyone what names you have chosen or are thinking about. It's personal for your little family. People are much less likely to be nasty about a name if it's already attached to the baby than if it's a suggestion for an unborn child.

This is so true. My step-sister picked out the name of her second kid as soon as she found out it was a boy and shed told my step-dad and he gave her nothing but grief over how Ryder is a weird name and he's gonna get picked on and blah blah blah. It really pissed me off. But thankfully it didn't discourage her and she ended up naming him exactly what she'd planned. But yeah, I'm not gonna tell anyone that I don't trust to be nice. My kid, my choice. No one has the right to change my mind, and I won't give them a chance to.

Anyway, for a boy we both like Jason a lot, that's pretty much set it stone. Our girl names change around, but right now we like Levanna and Iris.
As for family tradition, my family carries middle names down a lot. I plan to name a daughter *Whatever* Ellen, after myself, both my grandmothers and various other ancestors on both sides. Not sure about a boy though, I think I'd leave that to Shane. And his last name, even if one happens to come before we're married.
Luckily we're from similar cultures, so there won't be issues with that.

[Zephii]

Is it common everywhere to name boys after family/ more traditional and no one cares about that for girls?? I think it's funny!

It's traditional in my family to pass down girl names. Our daughter's middle name is for my mum (but not exactly the same), and my sister has a family middle name as well as having kept her maiden name (they both hyphenated when they married).

I think naming girls is easier in a way though, there's no risk of undermining their masculinity. A girl can do just as well with a strong name as with a pretty name, but a boy with a softer name might not appreciate it as much. If that makes sense.

[mllebamako]

Is it common everywhere to name boys after family/ more traditional and no one cares about that for girls?? I think it's funny!

Haha no, I realized that it seemed like that from my comment! Here, it's especially important with the first born child and then after that, it's more of a preference thing. So our daughter (5 years old) is named after my SO's sister and then the one-in-the-womb will either be named after his father/my brother or the random girl names we liked.

[kria]

My SO and I aren't really going by traditions. We are simply going to pick names that can go for both cultures, as in sound similar when pronounced by either English or Swedish. We have already picked out a girl's first name but not a middle name. We have yet to decide on any boy names. Our children will have his last name.

I really didn't want to go by tradition because I don't want any family member feeling down because we picked on grandmother's name over the other or something silly like that. I would never hear the end of it no matter if it was before or after the child was born. However, we have a while to think of names, so I hope we'll come up with something good. The girl name we have picked out so far is Aria.