How did your parents choose your name?

Question

Did You Ever Ask Your Parents About The Name You Were Given?

WalsallGuy90 · Accepted Answer

I was named after my grandfather on my dad's side. Thing is, my dad's side of the family comes from Eastern Europe originally although he and his brother were born in the UK, while my mum's side is fully English. There seems to be a sort of tradition of naming people after relatives (my cousin, brother, and dad and uncle were all named after relatives further back, and I believe my other two cousins on my dad's side were as well). All of them have names that can be shortened to something properly English-sounding, but mine can't, so I have awkward explanations every time I meet someone new.

So I'm planning to break the trend. When I have kids I won't be naming them after relatives, if I have a daughter I'm looking at Irish names (as I love Ireland), and not entirely sure yet about a son but I'll think of something...

AnonDude1998 · Accepted Answer

Well my mum was going to name me Jude, but thought I looked more like a William when she saw me for the first time. And that's how I was named

GraveDoll · Accepted Answer

my names mean,
a victory for the people and nightmare or a female demon, winter

my mother says it was just fitting. It took them 2 weeks to name me. My father barely made it to my berthing. his plane almost didn't make it. I was born at 3:00 pm. She said I didn't cry and refused to open my eyes. I came out with pneumonia. I asked why the hell it took them 2 weeks to name me and my dad said well we thought you were going to die. (he said it so damn casually) He said it was the worse weeks of his life. They could not keep my fever down. and I was on a breathing tube. on the 3rd week, I finally open my eyes with a tiny smirk on my face and my mother called me eres mi pequeña pesadilla.

She also states it was a nightmare raising an overly opinionated child who was as hard-headed as they come. -_-

morimeme1 · Accepted Answer

My mom though I would be a boy throughout her pregnancy and wanted to name me Freddie (thank God I wasn't a boy). Then on the day she was supposed to give birth the doctor said I will in fact be a girl, she panicked and started thinking up names, she knew she wanted it to start with the letter D for some reason so she was weighing her options. My aunt and cousin were already names Dana and Diana so that was out, the she considered the name Dayana but the doctor said everyone would call me Daina and we had an alcoholic neighbour named Daina so that was out. And in the end she just blended those names and came up with Dena. I was the first person with that name in my country so she struggled with registering me and I live a life of people being confused when hearing my name. I like it though.

LMNOP123 · Accepted Answer

My pops picked my name. My mum wanted the name Briana for me but my dad didn't like it. (Briana was never my favourite name either, no offence to the Brianas out there.) My dad wanted me to be named my current name. My mum picked an uncommon variation of the spelling because she didn't want people to be calling me by the other way it's pronounced. Go figure, it happens anyway because unless I say otherwise people tend to spell it the common way. Like at places where they call out your name when the food you order is ready.

angelgirl7 · Accepted Answer

My first name came from the name of a character on an old TV show. There were other names they considered but when they saw me, they went with what they thought fit me best.
My middle name starts with an M because my dad has 12 siblings, all of who have an M middle name. They picked my middle name based on how it flowed with my first and last names, and it turned out that my middle name kind of combined the names of several important people in my/my parent's lives.

Alice2398 · Accepted Answer

I was originally going to be called Connie but my grate grandmother Winifred died two weeks before i was born. When my dad got her death certificate, he found out her real name was Alice and they decided to name me after her instead and have my middle name as Constance the long version of Connie

NightFalcon333 · Answer

I was born from an immigrant Chinese family, so I had originally chinese name (许天上), but my parents was Catholic converts so I also have baptize (Francis) + confirmation name (Alexander), but those aren’t enough, in the country my family migrated to, Chinese names are not allowed, so we must choose a local name, then my Catholic parents & Buddhist grandparents collaborate together to give me names that taken from Sanskrit words which’s used by Hindus, they’re Indra (God who leads the Heaven) & Nanda (Happy/Joy).. so literally, my name means Happy Heavenly King which really far from my real life situation 😒

SoWhAt249 · Answer

Named after my grandpa. It's a tradition in my country to name the first newborn the same or similarly as the grandfather if it's a boy, or if it's a girl, give her the same name if a female version exists, if not, name her as the grandma. It's slowly dying out and I'm glad tbh. Two names rotating between a father and a son for generations. Like wtf? I'd never name my children by my parants names. I want them to have distinguishable names. There are thousands of Davids, Alexanders, Georges... If you say "Hey, David" on the street, 10 people will turn around. I'm giving my kids names that are rare for where I live. Luka, Sirius, Aria are the names I've chosen. If I have more children, I have some more thinking to do. Or I might let my future wife pick one. I hope she doesn't pick the name of my dad.

Spiritwander · Answer

Sure did. Of course mom chose... (Thank God; if my father had, I probably would have ended up with the name "Earnest Washington" or something so I'd be a Godsend to moneylaundering or a high earning linebacker) 🤣

But mom chose a verse from the bible & her favorite personality in History; which, of course, would have no bearing to anyone not familiar with Earth. (My mom was the smart one; but so was my sister. My reluctance to show disrespect towards ladies is born not of weakness, but of the inherant instinct to survive that pissing off the smart ones, just isn't smart...😉)

BrookieCookie0422 · Answer

My dad is outdoorsy and used to hunt a lot (when I was young). He wanted my name to be something in nature. My parents came up with lots of boy names (like hunter) but decided they needed to decide on a girl name too in case. They picked Brooke (like babbling brook) and it stuck.

Anonymous · Answer

I was named after my aunt who died when my mom was in her 20's. Even though she chose the name, it was too difficult for her to really call me that, so literally everyone in my family calls me by my middle name which is my paternal grandmothers name.

GoodGuyBreakingBad · Answer

My Mom ( late ) liked the name Darren from Bewitched and she gave me the name
my name was toss up between Darren Scott and Darren Lee , so my mom called
me Darren Lee , her middle name was Lee too. I have cousin (s) Carol Lee and Jordan Lee
both females , my late Moms name was Donna Lee. I heard this girl talk to her baby
and his name was Shawnjay and that was his full first name. Some names are amazing.

IslanderSparkle_Siki · Answer

Yes, actually in Hinduism , the baby's name is determine by astrology (child's date of birth or zodiac/sun sign). So there is some calculations, and then the name should start with a given syllable, the name must be in Sanskrit and have a potential meaning.
My parents choose a unique and beautiful name for me.

jennifer_bloom · Answer

Both my dad and my mom have fist names with identical letters so they gave me the same letter as the first letter in my name - when I was born - the nurse said my skin felt like clear liquid - so I was named clean water in a foreign language - I thought it was interesting they called me that cause as a Christian I am supposed to seek the waters of life - my parents are not openly religious at all

yucychan · Answer

Yes.
My dad says he picked me and my sister's names randomly from a names dictionary. He didn't really give much thought to it, it's more of like blindfolding yourself and then choosing the name that your finger happens to land on. As long as it sounds good to him, that'll be it.

PaganWarrior · Answer

My great grandma was catholic, and when she found out fours year before her death, she was over the moon with what my mother chose for me and my sisters. They were names from the bible. Sarah, Rebecca, and Jessica. She absolutely loved them.

I wanted to change my name, but then I decided to keep it for my nan so I can keep her memory alive with me.

IronSheep · Answer

Where I live there's a predetermined list of names for first names. But since the last name goes after the father's first name they wanted something that would look cool for both reasons. They ended up naming me Jonas (Yo-nus), so if I had a kid it'd be Jonasson, if we plan on having a baby here.

BCA6010 · Answer

They picked a name that they knew to be an established English name, but didn't personally know anyone by that name.

My grandmother wanted something biblical, and fortunately my parents decided against the one she suggested.

ImagineSketchy · Answer

My mom chose my name. When she was younger she was very into Greek mythology and the history. She basically combined my name with some of the gods and demigods in the myths to get my first and middle names.

Aiko_E_Lara · Answer

I don't know about my real name but it sounds pretty close to my older brother's name (I don't wanna mention it) but my nickname, It's a 2 letter name, "JR" (Junior) because I look like my dad and also the acronym of my real name but it sounded "cliche they say so they interchanged those letters "RJ" then my dad changed "J" to "G" instead because of how we always pronounce it. Kinda weird.

SUMAIREBRAHIM · Answer

No my elder brother named me actually
He was 9 years old and he had bestfriend name sumair at that particular time frame who use to listen to him and follow him everywhere
My elder brother thought if he named me sumair I would end up like his friend and follow him everywhere

rose004b · Answer

They named me after an actress, but I can't remember exactly why. They loved the name and they also thought the name suited me when I was born. They made a good choice I guess, considering it has become quite popular.

nerms123 · Answer

Yeah and I got different stories. One was an aunt suggested it and another was it was the name of a girl my mom knew.

Anonymous · Answer

I was named after my Grandfather and my Father. My Grandfather was named David III and never had a son to be David IV, just 3 daughters, so my mom just so happened to be dating a guy who was also named David so she gave me my Father's name and really named me after my Grandfather.

AngelLily · Answer

My mom wanted to find a unique name for me so she looked everywhere to find the right name untile she went to a old antique store and found a book of names from the past and others countries and so then she found my name.

PeacefulRainDrop · Answer

My mom wanted to name me Vanessa after her pastors daughter.. once she heard it she loved it and dad wanted to name me Shantel.. mom won got it I think the name Shantel is very pretty!

isayboo · Answer

My parents told me my grandma gave me my name. It means brave in another language. I really love my name plus its has a unique spelling. I have yet to find someone who has the same name as me

StingRayxoxo · Answer

My parents joked endlessly to my grandmother that they were going to call me Elvis. They didn't. My name is biblical but I don't think thats why they gave it to me.

SexyAshh · Answer

They werent planning on having another kid, i was an accident on a drunken night. They literally switched up the letters of the alcohol they were drinking and there it was.

Such a privelage to tell this story till this day🤦‍♀️

Carbon-12 · Answer

My family thought we were Irish (it's a long story...) so my parents gave us all traditional Irish names. They heard mine from a fairytale actually, I'm named after a princess.

Maraneva · Answer

Parents decided on a name at first and thought it rhymed with my brother's name so decided to scrap the idea and named me with a name that means brave.

Anonymous · Answer

There was a disturbance in another country. So some of their citizens moved to my city. My oldest sister studied with some of their kids and they gave her list of new names from their country. And my siblings picked my name. Its about being glorious and leaving a legacy.

GhostMochi · Answer

My mom was originally going to name me Athena, but while she was looking through a book she saw my name, except it was spelled different, so she changed it around a bit to make it sound more unique.

AlexBlack007 · Answer

I don't know but I'm really glad they went with the one I have. Because they told me about some other name ideas they had for me and they all sounded terrible. 😅

alice55 · Answer

My mother saw a bottle of perfume, liked the name on it and decided to call her daughter like that.

BipBipLeddus · Answer

My mom gave me my middle name, which is my grandmother's name. My dad named me after a princess. So now my name is long, weird and dumb.

Cap_T · Answer

Actually i never asked them but still my name is considered to be one of the shortest names in arabic language and it doesn't have a meaning

mysterywolf · Answer

All I know is my aunt and mom both like the name Jessica. My mom had a girl before her so I got the name.

Bluebot · Answer

My mom really wanted me to be called Léon and my dad insisted on falling me Tom. So I ended up with Tom-Léon 🤷🏼‍♂️😄

penguin_14 · Answer

my middle name is named after my great grandmother and my middle name is similar with my grandfathers middle name but with a 'e'

xcvxx · Answer

I stayed with out a name for five days then mom decided to name me after an actors because she thinks that she's gorgeous lol

God_of_Thunder · Answer

They basically pulled it out of their ass. It has no significant meaning, and I wasn't named after anyone.

kari0130 · Answer

My mom had a named picked out and everyone hated it. So she changed it the day I was born. She thought she was being creative and turns out my name is a actual name... its Scandinavian.

simplyaramdomgirl · Answer

My name is a mix of my mom's and my grandfather on her side. My second name was given to me by my dad.

MercuryG · Answer

First name was carried over from my dad and his dad. Middle name was my mom's favorite movie character growing up.

kayaleyla285 · Answer

Haha it's a weird story! Actually one of my aunts dreamt of a man telling her to name me 'Ayesha'. Hence I got the name! ❤😁

Brookie1212 · Answer

My dad loved the name Brooke and was hell bent on it. My middle name came from the combo of my grandmas names

beebella · Answer

There's no cute story behind it, my mom just picked whatever name she fell in love with, I guess. 😅

ariadneR · Answer

She watched the movie the Alamo and really liked the name.

Lgmswolf024 · Answer

My name is the name my dad would've had if he was a girl. My initials are GMS and the acronym for the school I go to Is LGMS so that's kinda werid

Warmapplecrumble · Answer

My Mother just got the most common name that belonged to my Dad's ethnic background.

LankyGerman · Answer

Charlie was My Mum's Mom name and was given to her sister and it got passed down to me.

BadApple1 · Answer

First and middle name was both my grandfather’s names.

supercutebutt · Answer

After they looked at my perfect butt, they gave me my name.

falloncarrington · Answer

My name, Fallon, was apprantly after a character in some Disney story

sawno · Answer

I assume they named my after my grandpa's who had the same name as i do.

naijagurl · Answer

I was named after my dad’s mom. And my middle name is my mom’s mom’s name.

Agape93 · Answer

My mom wanted a boy and was going to name him Reginald. I got a feminized version.

Titanic1912 · Answer

I was named after my mom’s godfather and my dad’s late older brother. And my last name is the family name.

moonpie89 · Answer

They chose my brother's name first and wanted my name to match his since we're twins.

Nathaniel16 · Answer

I was an unexpected child and my mom being religious decided to call me Nathaniel because it means "Gift from god” in some other language maybe Latin.. I forgot

jmstarling · Answer

When my dad was in the Air Force, is best friend there was a nurse-anesthetist named Scott, so that's how I got my first name. I never met him, though.

Anonymous · Answer

They wanted a short name. Kimberly was in fashion at that time, but they hated the berly part

BillieJean1070 · Answer

I assume so, I had a name when I left the hospital after my birth.

Samantha2448 · Answer

My mom was going to name me Meghan but I have a sister named Meghan so she chose Samantha

SergeantSmoke · Answer

They kept seeing the name on a Road Sign. (On the way to the Hospital, memorably)

How did your parents choose your name?

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How did your parents/guardians pick your first name?

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