Too many Jameses?

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2006
Too many Jameses?
4
Fri, 01-12-2007 - 11:40pm

Hi,

I'm not even married or anything so I'm no where near having kids, but I just really like names so I wanted to ask a question. I've always thought that when I have a son I would like to name him after my dad, James Michael. However, my mom's dad, brother and nephew (my cousin) are all named James. (Ironically my cousin is also named James Michael even though he's only related to my dad by marriage...weird.) I was wondering first, if I named my son James would that be too many people named James? It's not that confusing right now because there's a mix of Jim, Jimmy, and James and my grandfather is deceased. Also, if I named my son James would my cousin then feel like he couldn't name his son James? I wouldn't want to steal from him something that has become a family tradition. If I named my son James and so did my cousin would that be too confusing having both of us have kids named James? I was thinking that I could do this and just call my son Michael, but I already have a cousin named Michael and I just like the name James better. As I said, this isn't really an imperitive issue or anything, I was just curious what people's thoughts were. Thanks!

-Kelly

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2006
Sat, 01-13-2007 - 11:18am

I have a similar situation w/ DH's family, except with the name Joseph. DH is David, and Joe or Joseph is his dad's, stepdad's, and BIL's name and he wants to name our son Joseph David. His dad is Joe David, but his BIL is also Joseph David. I just don't think I could stand another one! It drives us crazy as is b/c we always have to refer to them by their first and last names (even their own wives!)

For me, I do not love the name Joseph anyway, so that is a big factor. If you love the name James, then that's different. If you want to name a son James, I think you should. But I do not want so many of the same name personally.

What about using James as a mn for future child? It would still honor your dad, but it wouldn't be so confusing! This is what I'm trying to convince DH to do.

HTH,

Liz

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2005
Sat, 01-13-2007 - 11:48am

It would already be too many for me.

My family seems to have a similar problem with J names. I have a cousin Justin and two other cousins with sons named Justin (all on the same side of the family), plus two cousins named Joshua, a cousin Joe (Joseph), Uncle Joe and two Anthony Josephs (the sons of my cousins Joshua and Joseph), not to mention an Uncle John, Uncle Jack, Uncle Jeff, cousin Jason -- and his son, Jevon -- and my own husband ... Jason! Argh. LOL

It's not that terrible, but it can be confusing and, to be honest, rather boring (for lack of a better word). For example, when my mother just told me my cousin Josh had named his second son Justin, my simple reply was "well of course he did." LOL After all, he's also the one with the second Anthony Joseph.

If James is the name you're more fond of, I'd either use that as your future son's mn or use it as the fn and call him by a different nn (Jay, Jem or Jamie, perhaps, or even his initials) or call him by his mn. You could also look into other forms of James to honor your dad, if you wanted another option.

HTH

~Kelli


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Sun, 01-14-2007 - 1:43am

I would keep it on the list of possible names and see where everybody is when the time comes.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2007
Mon, 01-15-2007 - 2:51pm

You might have all girls, so my opinion may not even matter ... but, could you name him (if you have a boy) James as the middle name? That way it would be a tribute to your father but not be so confusing with the rest of your family. I do think there are many James in your family -- and I know how you feel because the same goes in my husband's family! His name is Anthony James and everybody calls him AJ ... so it's no big deal there ... but, his cousin's name is James, and so on. I love the name, but I don't want to wear out the novelty of my son (if I have one) being named James, so I thought maybe using it as a middle name.

You could always do what my mother in law did and name your son a combo like Anthony James and call him AJ or DJ or whatever initials work for you. That's always an option! :)