Did you think about initials when naming your child?

[kensjen]

We have been occasionally talking about names. I have a favorite girl name that actually was on the list last time I was pregnant. I really love it, but her initials would spell KEG. For some reason, that just kinda bugs me. Not that everyone would know this or even think of it, but I know it and just can't get past it.

Of course my frat boy husband is like, "I think it is cool." Great. I'm sure all of the frat boys will love it, that is what I'm worried about. :) Of course, even if she did have something monogrammed, most likely it would be in the kGe format. And again, most people (ie annoying, teasing classmates) won't even know her middle name.

Did you even consider what your DC's initials would spell? And would you give your daughter (or your son, for that matter) KEG for initials?? hehe One of the main reasons I think of this is my BIL....his initials spell RAG and he has always hated it. He was so picky with their childrens' names because of this.

Anyway, just wondering, thanks!

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

and still wouldn't...
I personally think the name is such a force that I wouldn't dare let the initial thing bother me...
but then again our children all have the same middle name which is nothing "pretty" but means a lot. I am really into what means something to you and that trumps my fears of what others think etc...

I only share this so you will feel more comfortable with going with the name that fits!!!!


Neve
Reichen (6), Karsh (3), Tristan (2) and baby girl Bronwyn born March 10th!!!!

[billysmommy]

My brother's initials are RAG too :) and mine were LEG. If Billy had been a girl his would have been ABC.
If I absolutely loved the name it wouldn't bother me but if I just liked the name the initials may sway me to something different. But like you said not everyone will know the middle name and of those that do, most of them probably won't even notice that it spells something.

[ellies mom]

Personally I think about it. My first and last initials spell VD. It was pretty embarassing when I was younger but I'm past it now (embraced it in some ways). So, when we were picking names, I definately made sure the initials didn't spell something I wouldn't want to live with.

[phirey]

We've been wondering this, too. Our current top name choice spells EMT. Not that weird until you consider that DH and I met on an ambulance ramp when we were both working as paramedics. Some might say that makes EMT particularly apropos, but if you know the culture there's two types of emergency worker: those who live, eat and breathe EMS (and therefore would *try* for EMT initials), and those who frankly think the others are a bit odd. We're the latter, so we'd rather avoid EMT as initials.

But if we're the only ones who will ever notice, then who cares? I have never even thought about my friends' kids' initials.

So I'm curious what others think...

[mudder17]

I did, just to see if it would spell anything cool or spell anything terribly bad. But overall, I decided to go for a name that I liked and not worry too much about the initials.


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 17 months & counting


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[JBaxter]

My cousin was almost Amy Sue until her mother wrote the name on the birth certificate :P their last name started with an S. With some last minute scrambling she was named Wendy instead.

Logan 13 Connor 10 and Nathan is......
http://lilypie.com/baby2/031115/2/1/1/-5/.png[/url]

[marinkitty]

We did think about it but I would only let it stop me if it spelled something profane or that would be embarrassing for the child. I wouldn't let KEG stop me - it could potentially be cool to the frat boy crowd in college but other than that I really don't think it would subject her to much teasing or be a negative.

Holly
Mom to Mia (3.17.03) and baby brother Jack (3.23.05)

[Saartje]

Jen — Would the name you have in mind work if you switched the first and middle names, so it spelled EKG instead?

And yes, we did think about ISHie's initials before we named him. ;)

OTOH, my college roommate's parents either didn't think about it or didn't care; her initials were LAP, and she always through high school and college tried to hide that, because she was annoyed at being teased about "lap dog" and "lap dance."

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

don't y'all think???
I mean if it is not one thing it will be another...

I was short in school (now I think I am about as average as average can be)...but in elementary school I was always joked for being the smallest. and then my maiden name had jokes of illegal plants that you smoke attached to it since it contained "joint" in the spelling. I mean kids are always teased, so if it is not one thing it will be another.

Sadly!!!


Neve
Reichen (6), Karsh (3), Tristan (2) and baby girl Bronwyn born March 10th!!!!

[lisaE]

I always heard that it's good luck if your initials spell a word. KEG wouldn't stop me at all.

[kellyotn]

I did. My mom went to school with a kid who was teased relentlessly for his initials spelling out BRA. So, initials were a biggie for her.

A word like EMT or KEG wouldn't bug me, but anything vaguely "dirty" or swear-word like I'd skip unless I was REALLY attached to the combo.

Yes, I agree though, kids will tease regardless! I just always heard her talking about it when baby names came up, so its ingrained for me.

[Elilly]

Yes, I thought of initials but it didn't stop us from naming DD. Her initials are CML. To everyone but me, this is probably no big deal. However, I work in a hematology lab and CML is short for chronic myelogenous leukemia. The rest of my family thinks I'm insane for even thinking of it so I understand how you feel.
As for KEG, I would be more apt to use if for a girl than a boy. Sexist reasoning I know but my feelings none the less.

[momathome]

Liza's full name is Elizabeth Liana and our last name begins with an F so we have a little ELF! It was not intentional - we had the middle name picked out all along and I let dh pick her first name from a list of names that went well with Liana. I loved the way Elizabeth Liana sounded although we had a nice chuckle once we realized what the intials would be. :) Liza has embraced her initials and I just bought her an LL Bean backpack for school and had her initials embroidered on it at her request. If you love the name enough, I would go for it!

[barbarhow]

I agree with Neve on this one. My new initials are BCH-a bit to close to b*tch but I could not care less as an adult. Anna's initials are ACH-we thought about it for a bit and then decided it wasn't so bad unless she married someone with the last name Young.
My maiden name was always made fun of-its always something. Pick a name you love and ignore the rest.
Oh and Jack's initials-JVH-my DH balked at first on because of the JV-"I want him to be varsity". It's always something.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03, a Red Sox fan
and Anna 5/12/05, my little Yankee fan!

[Saartje]

in my roommate's case, it wasn't kids, it was young adults.

Not saying I'd choose a name based on that, and I have no doubt Isaac will face some teasing about his name at some point (because his first initial or his first and middle initials plus our last name make a sentence), but I did think it over. It's just one of the things I check when I'm thinking about names.

[aliceinwonderland]

I know my kid will be teased, because he ostensibly has two last names AND a middle names (so 4 total). Of his last names, one is foreign and short(mine!), the other is of German origin and has to be spelled each time.

I guess I feel choosing a name is a parents prerogative, and teasing is just not a strong enough motivator for us to change our wishes.

:)

[MelissaTC]

Not too much but enough. My cousin went to colleg with a FAG and he was teased beyond belief. When it comes down to it, kids are going to tease kids for any reason or no reason. My friend's maiden name is Terry and she was teased by a boy growing up. He used to call her Terry Terror. Duh.

[jamsmu]

I always loved being JAM growing up. But, when I got married, I was much happier to drop my middle initial and become JMP rather than JAP. So, yes, its something I think of. Don't think KEG would be bad though... its not till HS (I hope) that they figure it out and by then, hopefully, the mean teasing has ended and its just a fun nickname--if anyone cares at all.

[amp]

We do. I don't know if KEG would bother me or not, since I'm not making that decision, but we do look at the initials and have nixed a few names based on them.

[lmintzer]

Julie,
I have a little "JAM" too! It's funny--he's very musical, too, so we could call him "JAMmin' Jack". : )

[RwnMayfair]

I actually have a sorority sister who has those initials. It honestly never bothered her, and she always found it funny. That being said though, I do consider initials to a certain extent. We're staying away from names that begin with O because (not including the middle name), initials would end up being OJ. However, I don't worry about them *too* much, so long as they aren't spelling anything all that bad. (Not that OJ is bad, it just immediately makes me think OJ Simpson, and well, that kills it for me.) KEG doesn't really bother me, but I suspect I wouldn't go for something that might spell something semi-bad. :)

-Melissa

Taran, November 20, 2003

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif - Eighteen months!
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[dowlinal]

Yep!! For example we've ruled out any names that begin with an O because our kids initials would be OD. If we have a boy, his middle name will be Thomas for DH and this has eliminated all S names since that would mean our son's initials would be STD. If this baby is a girl her middle name will be Joan so all B names are out for somewhat obvious reasons.

A

[erosenst]

Yep. We ruled out one choice immediately because it would have been JAP. (We're Jewish - so "Jewish American Princess" immediately sprung to mind.) I grew up WITHOUT a middle name because I would have been EAR - and my mother is a speech/lang pathologist who worked with hearing impaired kids, and they thought that was just too weird/cute.

[crayonblue]

Yes! I tried to think of every way possible kids could tease Lauren about her name. I was TORTURED in middle/high school by mean kids who spelled my name backwards (why do kids think of such things!?). So, before naming any child of mine, I spell them backwards, check the initials, and try to think of any and all teasing fodder. Of course, I cannot control the future and don't know what someone else with the name Lauren might do to put a taint on her name, but I did the best I could!

[KrisM]

Yes, I did. We considered initials and monograms. I have a friend whose daughter's initials are PMS. Just doesn't seem right.

[chlobo]

We initially thought about naming our daughter a nmae that would have given her the initials ASS. We opted not to disadvantage our daughter in that way so we did not choose the name we had originally thought of.

[smomom]

Yes... I totally did. One of our top names was Aidan Sean. Combined with our last name that begins with "S", the poor little guy would have had the initials of ASS. I just couldn't do that to the kid. We go by initials at work, so maybe that made it seem like a bigger deal to me.

If it had been just a silly word that was spelled, it wouldn't have bothered me. Somehow ASS just crossed the line for me.

[psophia17]

We sure did...and did everything we could to avoid spelling stuff with them. It's one less thing to worry about in the long run.

[KBecks]

Just because a girl may marry and change her name/initials anyway. For a boy I might pay more attention.

As for my next name choice (if a boy), do you think that SDM has any worrisome connotations?

[ribbit1019]

Well we thought about it yes, mostly because my immediate family and I all share ES, (CES, MES, DES, WES). But we could come up with anything clever so we just went with the name we liked. DD is MDS, DH is RMS.

I have a friend though that her kids are GAP, CKB, KGB, JMB. So she tried to find ones that spelled something, though I am sure Katherine Grace will not like KGB when she gets older.... :) And the youngest JMB is the her DH's intials, I guess they couldn't come up with another clever one. ;)

Christy
Maddy - weaned at 13 months

http://lilypie.com/baby2/040609/3/4/0/-5/.png
Baby Grew! Yay!
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[kijip]

In our case it would have meant his initials would have spelled out a racial slur. Not cool.

I have a BIL whose initials spell ART. Very cool. But he was nearly RAT! I think that teasing could ahve made him a serial murderer!

[icunurse]

I agree that kids will pick on other kids for something, even seemingly harmless initials. Growing up, I knew I kid with the last name O'Brien (he used the initials OB), first name started with M. So, initials were MOB and then kids picked on him saying "O.B. has B.O.". Kids will find something. Unless it's something REALLY bad (like racist or a "naughty" word), it wouldn't deter me from using one name over another. Heck, I married into becoming TB and a co-worker is now VD.
Traci
~Connor's Mom 02/2004~
Agency paperwork completed - waiting for #2!

[mamato1]

We considerd it but didn't let it stop us from picking the name we loved. Brendan's full intials are BRO. But you can see what we get if you use just his first and last initial. I agree with the PP's who said that kids will always find something to make fun of. I think it is wise to look out for obvious trouble. But you just can't plan for every contingency.

Chris

Mama to Brendan (aka Boomer) 01/04

http://lilypie.com/baby2/040116/0/1/3/-6/.png

[Tondi G]

LOL... yup I thought about it but didn't let it get in the way in the end! Mason's initials are MLG so no biggie... Aidan's initials are AGG.

My DH is EGG, my BIL is WIG and SIL is RAG.... don't know what my MIL was thinking!!!

~Tondi
Mommy to Mason Liam 7/8/01 and Aidan Gabriel 5/4/05

[kristine_elen]

Y.E.S.

But I think KEG is fine. I would probably avoid A.S.S. or F.U.K., etc.

[saschalicks]

It's the first thing I think of when people tell me full names. Please don't ask why, but I do. I loved DS's when we named him: JWK On one site my husbands name is: JDubDaddy. Isn't that cute? LOL

[hellokitty1]

I'm with most of the other posters that KEG is no big deal and would not consider it a big deal unless it were an obscene or offensive word. I also don't think it's really just about kids teasing. It's alos about going into adulthood and having to initial every piece of paperwork FAG or FUK. Also, in the workplace, it is commomplace to have to initial things and even as an adult, i would crings if i had to write FAG or FUk every time.

Anyway, that's just what I am thinking.

[starrynight]

Yes. We made sure that their intials didn't spell out anything. I basically picked out a middle name first and then went with the first name that fit the best and also didn't spell out anything. In the end it worked out fine because I think there was only one name we had to toss out, we just naturally didn't like names that ended up spelling anything, then again we have it easy with a last name beginning in V you can't spell out much anyway!

[alleyoop]

Gosh, Yes! But after all the names, and ALL the disscussion (read: fighting), I still ended up with an NFL and CEL. Oh heck! You can't win them all. Maybe he will end up in the NFL and she will be a doctor. Those are good jobs! :P

[Lovingliv]

Hey Jen,
Jonah is adorable,,,everytime I see his pic I think he looks like the lil cutie from the 6th sense. We also share the same birthday..Happy belated Jonah!
I picked out DD name 18 years ago. I obviously love the name but never thought I would marry someone with the last initial B. I did think about her initials being "O.B." (like the tampons) but I also thought that when I write my initials out I always include my middle name. Let's hope she does too! O.R.B

[Marcy_O]

Well, we put a lot of consideration into it when we were not sleep deprived in the hospital.. But once BRight was born, we knew his name would be Brighton (other options were Olliver or Aedan) but it didn't dawn on us that his initials would be BO. With his middle name it's BRO, so that's OK, but BO is a bad one...

[gravymommy3]

I have not posted in a while, but this topic really hit home.

I was very concerned about initials when my last one was born. I wanted to name her Hayden Olivia. Had my heart set on it until I realized that her initials would be HOG. I was still tempted but then what if she turned out to be a porker? Couldn't do it. Her's are now HCG (which is the pregnancy hormone that EPTs detect.) It's bad enough that my fil's are FAG and mil's are NAG.

I don't think KEG is that bad. My oldest's are GEG. Good luck.

Amy

[MarisaSF]

We'll likely pass on THC and TIC, but TLC is still in the running for a future kid. :)