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Helpnumber of MNs
My husband and I finally found the *perfect* names for our baby. But now, there is the following 'problem':
For a girl we have a FN and two MNs, for a boy 'only' a FN and one MN. We are happy about the names and the combos, but somehow it bothers me that we have a different number of names to give.
We didn't plan the number of names, we just chose the ones we like and which go well together. And for future children, we will do it the same way.
My question now: Would it be strange, if siblings have a different number of names?
For a girl we have a FN and two MNs, for a boy 'only' a FN and one MN. We are happy about the names and the combos, but somehow it bothers me that we have a different number of names to give.
We didn't plan the number of names, we just chose the ones we like and which go well together. And for future children, we will do it the same way.
My question now: Would it be strange, if siblings have a different number of names?
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Replies
I don't think it would be too strange. I personally wouldn't do it unless I was sure the multiple middle names flowed as a whole.
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Thanks a lot for your opinions! .
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I wouldn't worry, if you love the names and the combos, then stick with them!
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It does feel strange, even though it's exactly what I've seen irl. For example, I have seven siblings, and all eight of us have one mn except for my youngest brother who has two. And then with my own two sons, the older one has one mn and the younger one has two.
Obviously, my own children's names are at least party my own fault. When I was pregnant the first time, I couldn't think of any boy's names, and my husband insisted he was sure the baby would be a girl, so we hadn't even really talked about boys names until he was born: and yeah, he was a boy. So I essentially suggested the first two names that popped into my head, and my husband loved it, so that's what we went with. But with my younger son, we spent a lot more time planing, and we knew we wanted a biblical name to go with our first son's biblical name (Josiah) and an Arthurian name to go with our first son's Arthurian name (Arthur), but Arthur is also an honouring name, and we couldn't think of/find another Arthurian name that was also honouring. So we added in a third name for the honouring part, and he's Ezra Gwain Jonathan - Jonathan is of course also a biblical name, but we didn't want it in the fn position; we both loved Ezra for that. So he ended up with one more name than his brother, and it does feel a bit unfair, but neither kid seems to mind. If I'd planned it out better, I would have given my first son two middle names too - not sure what, but I'm sure we could have thought of something.
With my parents and my youngest brohter, they said since they knew he was their last baby, they might as well just "use up" the rest of the male names they liked.
Obviously, my own children's names are at least party my own fault. When I was pregnant the first time, I couldn't think of any boy's names, and my husband insisted he was sure the baby would be a girl, so we hadn't even really talked about boys names until he was born: and yeah, he was a boy. So I essentially suggested the first two names that popped into my head, and my husband loved it, so that's what we went with. But with my younger son, we spent a lot more time planing, and we knew we wanted a biblical name to go with our first son's biblical name (Josiah) and an Arthurian name to go with our first son's Arthurian name (Arthur), but Arthur is also an honouring name, and we couldn't think of/find another Arthurian name that was also honouring. So we added in a third name for the honouring part, and he's Ezra Gwain Jonathan - Jonathan is of course also a biblical name, but we didn't want it in the fn position; we both loved Ezra for that. So he ended up with one more name than his brother, and it does feel a bit unfair, but neither kid seems to mind. If I'd planned it out better, I would have given my first son two middle names too - not sure what, but I'm sure we could have thought of something.
With my parents and my youngest brohter, they said since they knew he was their last baby, they might as well just "use up" the rest of the male names they liked.
This message was edited 7/7/2015, 3:52 PM
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I would keep them all with the same amount of names just because I like balance. I would think also that people will often ask why your daughter has three names and your son only has two. I once knew a guy who had three names while his two siblings only had two. He and his family were forever explaining why. On a side note, he also had a little trouble when it came to legal documents that didn't have enough space to accommodate his name which was a total of 22 letters. Either way, just something to think about. Best of luck in deciding.
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I don't think it would be strange. Our daughter has only one middle name, our son has two. If we have another boy he'll have two middle names, another girl will have just one.
I had my doubts about it when naming our second child, but somehow it doesn't bother me anymore.
I had my doubts about it when naming our second child, but somehow it doesn't bother me anymore.
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I wouldn't want my sibling to have a different number of names than me. And I do find it a bit odd when siblings doesn't share the number of names.
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I agree. It may be silly, but as a child if I had a different number of names than my siblings I would have felt like the odd one out.
As an adult it matters less, but I still like the balance of a shared pattern in a sib-set.
One exception would be hyphenated double-barrel names, which in my mind would count as two separate names when considering the number of names given.
As an adult it matters less, but I still like the balance of a shared pattern in a sib-set.
One exception would be hyphenated double-barrel names, which in my mind would count as two separate names when considering the number of names given.
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No! I don't think that it is something strange. Such situation is in my family: I have two middle names, and my younger brother and sister have one. In my country (Poland) having three names is very, very rare and strange, but having children with different number of names isn't so I think in your country it also wouldn't be nothing strange. But if you'll feel better with the same number of names for every child, maybe try to eliminate one name for a girl or find a second MN for boy, which you also like.
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of course not! Pete Wentz has two sons, one with one middle name and the other with two!
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Nope!
I know plenty of families who have this scenario.
The first to come to mind is a friend whose son has two middle names (after family members) and her daughter just has a first and middle name, not after any family members.
I know plenty of families who have this scenario.
The first to come to mind is a friend whose son has two middle names (after family members) and her daughter just has a first and middle name, not after any family members.
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Thanks for your opinion. That's a point too: Two of the girl names and one of the boy names are family names. So both have a 'independent' name and the others are honouring...at least something's balanced ;)
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I see what you mean! No, it wouldn't be strange as such - your reasons are good. But there might be a time when one or other child feels disadvantaged! In which case, just encourage him/her to choose a new, additional name or discard one of the present ones, but only when old enough to do so. Most likely it'll never happen.
Now I'm being nosey - might we know your choices? It would be interesting ...
Now I'm being nosey - might we know your choices? It would be interesting ...
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no, sorry. not yet ;) it's our big secret at the moment and nobody knows them. But I'll share them when our baby is born :)
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No, not at all. I have one mn and my brother has two mns. No one ever commented on it.
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Our daughter has two middle names - Elizabeth and Mae. If we should have another child they will have one. It might be odd but whatever. It will work. (And honestly I wish my daughter just had one name)
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Not at all strange! My friend has two middle names, whereas one of her sisters has a hyphenated first name, and the other just has a first name, I think. It's not a big deal.
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