The Great Namesake Survey...How would YOU honor a family member with your child's name?

Both my kids have a family member's name as their middle name. As-is. Not much of a fan of "oh, I used something similar", or "oh, it has the same meaning", or "oh look, it has some of the same letters", or "oh look, the initials are the same". How does that say anything other than "actually, I hate your name"? If you don't want to use their name, don't pretend you did.

In general I agree with the first poster that it's all completely relative (sorry about the pun!) 1. I suppose, but it's a bit of a stretch. 2. Yes, though it's not obvious (not that that's a bad thing) 3. I never thought of this--I really like the idea and think it's a lovely way to honor someone. 4. Yes, this clearly honors them. 5. Yes, I think this works as well. 6. I like this idea as well, though depending on the name of the honoree the child could end up with a dreadful name (like the pair Hildegard and Bingen :) 7. Another nice idea, but I think it could lead to some dreadful names as well. 8. Like 7, a creative idea that might end very badly for the child. 9. Yes, this is a nice idea, though I don't think there are that many names with such associations that correspond to the whole range of activities that people might like. 10. It's a nice idea, but there is NO WAY that I would let some members of my family name my child, no matter how much I love them and want to honor them. (For example, my siblings and I were all named after Narnia characters, so my mother would never get the chance to name a grandchild, and my mother-in-law's favorite names are Kyleigh and Jayden, so again, no way! If we have another child and want to honor a loved one, my husband and I will retain full naming rights! :) BQ 1: I honored both of my husband's late uncles who died when they were teenagers in a car crash. I gave my son two middle names because I didn't want to honor one over the other and I didn't want to use either as a first name. (His name is William Frederick Robert.) If I have another son I'll name him Samuel Vanderford, as Vanderford is a traditional male middle name in our family. BQ 2: You seem to have done a very thorough job! The best that I can come up with is if the honoree was of a specific heritage (Irish, Italian etc.) and you chose a name from that tradition.

1. I personally don't think this is enough of honouring a relative... if I wanted to honour a relative of mine, I would use a full name or a variant of that name. -- Hannah Claire (after my grandfather and father ... both named a Dutch variant of Henry) -- William Vincent (after my grandmother Wilhelmina) 2. I think giving a child the same initials is definitely getting closer to something I would want to do, as it seems more linked to the relative than just one initial. -- Hannah Frances (after my grandfather Henricus Franciscus) -- Finn Maxwell (after my grandmother Florence May) 3. This is a little more abstract, I think it would work but it's not something that I personally would do. -- Claire Alexandra (after grandfather Robert meaning "bright fame", Claire means "bright") -- Leomaris Isaac (after my mother Marnie meaning "from the sea", Leomaris means "lion of the sea" ) 4. Using a variant of the name in another language is something that very much appeals to me. Both my father and paternal grandfather were named Henricus -- the Dutch version of Henry, so I'd love to use that. -- Willa Madeline (after my grandmother Wilhelmina) -- Henry William (after my father Henricus Wilhelmus) 5. Using a variant or shortening of the same name is another way in which I consider using names and I think this honours the relative well. -- Flora Holiday (after grandmother Florence and sister Holly) -- Liam Roderick (after uncle's middle name William and grandfather Robert) 6. Using related names in a historical or literary fashion would be very cool and an abstract way to do it but not many of my family names are very obvious in the historical or literary fashion. -- Holiday Matilda "Holly" (from "Breakfast at Tiffany's", Holiday Golightly from my sister Holly) -- James Alexander (after Dad Henry... like Henry James) 7. Using names with similar letters would be very cool, but I would probably not use this as much as using other variants. -- Lauren Viola (from Florence) -- Liam Deacon (from William) 8. Using an anagram would be difficult because there aren't many names with easy anagrams in my family. It'd be very cool if there were though. -- Narime Eloise (from Marnie) -- Leiry Beckett (from Riley, my brother) 9. Using something the relative likes or something special to them is cute but not my style and I think it's too abstract for me to consider using it. -- Bella Madeline (Bella from my sister Holly's first car) -- Ford Alexander (my grandfather drew the plans for the first Ford museum in Victoria, Australia) 10. Using a name that I know my honoree loves would be special but I'd prefer to use names specifically after them. -- Laika Imogen (my friend Nikita is obsessed with space and the Russian spacedog Laika) -- Byron Elliott (Byron is my sister's favourite boys name) Bonus Question 1: Do you plan to honor any relatives or friends when you name your children? If so, how do you intend to do it? Yes. My grandfather Robert in particular. My first son will have the middle name of Robert, no matter what. He was a wonderful man and I love and miss her dearly. Bonus Question 2: Can you think of any other ways to honor a namesake that I haven't listed above? Nope! I think you've got them all covered!

I would do 2, 4 and 7. They are the ones I have considered, but you have a lot of great ideas here! BQ 1---Yes, I will be honouring relatives with the names of my children. I intend to either to the same-initial thing, or use their name as middle name. BQ 2--Nope, you've done a great job!

1- No 2- a bit of a stretch 3- IT could work 4- yes. My mom and Grandma are named Catherine & Donna so for a long time I watned to name a daughter Cayda Donya 5- that works 6- not really 7- no 8- hmm maybe 9- yes. my daughters dad was from Alaska so we named her Mckinley (after Alaska biggest mountain) 10- umm if your careful about it. one of my grandmas favorite boy names was Christian. she had five boys and didn't get to use that name. to honor her my dad gave me the middle name Kristeen and then I gave my son the name Christian. this rule though needs to have strong veto power BQ1- both of my kids and any future children will have first and middle names that have special meaning Mckinley Mayfair, Mckinley after mountian in alaska, Mayfair after my grandma-- Christian Wayne, christian after my middle name Wayne after his dad middle name-- William Iowa, William after my dad Iowa after my grandpa-- Zoebelle Elizabeth, Zoebelle because stepdads last name is Zobell Elizabeth after DH grandma

Agree with 1-5 and 9 & 10 do honor the namesake 6-8 is a stretch for me. Yes, I would like to honor a girl if I ever have one. My boys are honored, the middle name of boys 1 and 2 is the first name of Dad (#1) and boy 2 has Dad's middle name. If I had a girl the middle name would be Raeann. My mother's mother was Rachel and went by Rae. My mother's name is Marianne and so the middle would combo the names.

(1) Yes (2) Yes (3) Too much of a stretch (4) Too much of a stretch (5) Too much of a stretch (6) WAAYYY Too much of a stretch (7) Too much of a stretch (8) Yes (9) Too much of a stretch (10) WAAYYY Too much of a stretch Bonus Question 1: Yes, my grandpa's name is James, and I plan on making it my son's middle name. Milo James♥ Bonus Question 2: No

1. Alyssa. A for my dad. Just using the same first initial, doesn't feel like honoring them to me. Maybe if I used both initials. Andrew Scott- Alyssa Skye. 2. How funny, I just said that on number one. I like this one. 3. nope. 4. no. 5. no. 6. no. 7. no. 8. no. 9. no. 10. no. BQ1- Yes. My children's middle names will be family names. Most of them will be exact names of someone we're related too. One will be changed a little. Jason- Jace. It's hard for me to make Jason a middle name and actually like it, however I can make Jace work and I always call him Jace anyways.

1.) Same First Initial: No. This is way to much of a stretch for me. 2.) Same Initials: Yes, this could work. I didn't actually realize this until I literally started answering this part of the question, but my favorite girls name (Delilah Evangeline) honors my grandma who passed away in May (Doreen Elizabeth). I guess this ends my search to find a name that honors her! Lol. 3.) Same Meaning Yes, this could work. I wouldn't use it myself, but it would work. 4.) Historically related name/ nickname or same name in different language. Yes. This definitely works! Basically if a name is similar, it can honor someone. I have a friend named Aleea, after her dad, Lee. 5.) Has a lot of similar sounds Yes. In my opinion, if they COULD share a nickname (whether it be a commonly used nickname or "out on a limb" nickname; ie Gabriella could honor an Abigail because both could have the nickname Abbey) 6.) Literary connection etc Yes. Obviously they have put a lot of thought into it if they come up with something like that, so It could work. 7.) Repeats same letters. Yes, as long as it sounds similar 8.) Anagrams Yes. 9.) After something they like, where they grew up etc Yes, I plan on honoring my father this way. 10.) Choosing a name honoree likes Yes. BQ1: Yes. A lot of my favorite names honor someone. Delilah Evangeline - Grandma Doreen Elizabeth (same initials) and Grandpa who has -EV- in his First name, and Delilah contains all the letters in his middle name Katrina Lily Jean - I have a lot of friends named Katherine or variations of Katherine. Katrina is also a variation of Katherine. Jean is after my softball coach, Gene. Cailyn, Alexandra, Samantha, Adrienne, Tara, Courtney, Kristin, Adam, and Jacob are all the exact names of family/friends (although I changed the spelling from Kaelin to Cailyn) Noah Jackson Riley - Riley is after my dad. It's complicated how I choose Riley, lol. Jackson is a combination of Jason (dads middle name) and Jacqueline (moms name). Alexander Ryan - Ryan is after my softball coach, Bryan. *I have a lot more on my list, but those are the ones I thought of off the top of my head. BQ2: Other than using the same name, I can't at the moment. I tend to go for the obvious ways, lol.