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Baby names

Is this narcissistic?

29 replies

snickersnacker · 06/05/2013 23:33

Don't wish to out myself so am trying to explain this situation with equivalent names rather than the real ones...

Is it narcissistic to name my DD with a variant of my own name? For example, if I were named Eleanor and I named my daughter Helen.

OP posts:
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MayimBialik · 06/05/2013 23:33

No Grin

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thermalsinapril · 06/05/2013 23:46

No, it's fine! Smile

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MardyBra · 06/05/2013 23:52

Personally I'd find it a bit weird. I know of a couple of people who have the same or similar names to their offspring and I can't get my head around it. Sorry to be blunt.

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OneFingerSjupesUpTheYoni · 06/05/2013 23:53

Of coarse not! When pg with ds we considered sadie if he was a dd - sadie being a variant of sarah. Most of my dads side of the family have 'wee' so and so named after them :)

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MardyBra · 06/05/2013 23:57

And I also find it weird when the wife/mother of one of the paired names says stuff like: "x wet his pants earlier." DH and I ask whether it was the little one or the big one.

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shufflehopstep · 07/05/2013 00:08

I don't think it's weird, they are different names. You can always have nicknames to differentiate if it gets confusing.

I found out about my family tree and there are several generations with the same name. The eldest son is always named after his father. This ended with my dad's cousin who was named something else but one of his sons has the same first name as him. My dad's aunt was also named after her mother.

Also (although not quite the same thing), I have an aunt who remarried and her second DH had same name as her son. It's never really caused any issues as they are always referred to as big x or little x (even though 20 years later, little x is now the same size).

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TheDetective · 07/05/2013 00:19

I knew a Katie who called her daughter Kitty. I found it quite odd!

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IHeartKingThistle · 07/05/2013 00:29

My DD is called something that could technically be a variant/nickname of my name. I didn't realise until she was a few days old! Hardly anyone picks up on it and those that do don't seem to think it's weird.

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NatashaBee · 07/05/2013 00:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

KittenofDoom · 07/05/2013 01:42

No, it's traditional but currently unfashionable.

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LittleMissLucy · 07/05/2013 04:10

do it. you can even name your dd your own actual name if you like. I wanted to, but my DH vetoed it!

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LeoandBoosmum · 07/05/2013 04:13

No! My gran is Ellen, her daughter is Helen and her daughter is Helena. It's nice, in my opinion Smile

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wigglesrock · 07/05/2013 07:55

No, but then I and my husband come from families where its done Smile. I think the example you give is fine and I know a Sarah and a Sadie mother daughter combo.

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ImTooHecsyForYourParty · 07/05/2013 07:58

Do you want your child to have your name so you're choosing one that's linked to yours or do you like the name but you're wondering if it's going to seem weird since it's a variation of yours?

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snickersnacker · 07/05/2013 10:01

Hecsy - the latter.

Just to be clear, I don't intend to make DD a 'junior' or to give her a nn of my own name, but to give a name that I like that happens to be a variant of my own name. So to stick with the Eleanor / Helen example, I wouldn't name her Nell, for example. It would be a name that has a common etymological root which people might clock if they knew a bit about either name.

Thanks for all your thoughts!

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KittenofDoom · 07/05/2013 11:11

If it's like Elizabeth and Isabel, I doubt most people would even make a connection. It really is a non-issue in my book.

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BestestBrownies · 07/05/2013 11:20

It's traditional in my family to give the children their parent's names as a middle name. Has been going on for generations. So I am Bestest Brownies.

I think in some Asian cultures the children get their father's first name as a surname too.

Not weird at all IMO. The average person won't make the connection in the example you give anyway. I don't think many people give names that much thought until they're choosing one for a sproglet anyway Wink

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Badvoc · 07/05/2013 11:25

No

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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 08/05/2013 19:34

Yes. I also know of a Catherine who called her dd Kitty - bonkers imho. :)

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chickensaladagain · 08/05/2013 19:44

Dd1 has a variant of my name and I didn't realise until she was 3

No one has ever commented on it

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CityGal29 · 08/05/2013 20:20

I think it's often an almost unconscious thing that people name their children names that are actually derivatives or sound very similar to their own.

I know x2 mum Jo with sons called Josh;
X3 mums called Lisa with daughters called Layla/ Leila/ Lila
X2 mums called Emma with daughters called Ella
Etc

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Rhubarbgarden · 08/05/2013 20:55

I know an Anna who called her daughter Annabel. There were a number of raised eyebrows. I wouldn't do it.

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Stat · 09/05/2013 13:56

I have the female version of my dad's name.

I ask my parents if they named me for that reason, but it seems like it didn't even occur to them.

To be honest I found it annoying, our names are both shortened to the same nick-name, so it would get confusing when my friends phoned as a teenager and asked for me by my nick-name. My dad accidently opened my post on more than one occassion, and things like that.

I think it is fine to give your first name as your child's middle name, or if the variations are quite different like Eleanor and Helena, but something like Helen and Helena is a bit silly. It is just confusing.

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JojoMags · 09/05/2013 14:07

I knew a Dad called Charles who had a Charles Jnr and a Charlotte. He was a . That said, I think if you can give her a slight variation or nn to make her name a little distinct from yours in everyday conversation, it's fine. Just don't do it with more than one child!

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TheSecondComing · 09/05/2013 14:12

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