The Great Name Debate -- The Sequel

My cousin is a III. His wife is pregnant and if they have a boy, she does not under any circumstances want him to be a IV. I think her reason is that she just plain doesn't like the name. I'll remain neutral on that topic. My aunt and uncle are flipping as it seems the legacy is about to end abruptly with this new generation.

At any rate, I can sympathize. And my in-laws probably can too. My husband isn't TECHNICALLY a III. In his family, they switch around the middle names, so they don't have that roman numeral at the end. Nevertheless, my husband is Thomas, his father is Thomas and his grandfather is Thomas. I actually really, really like the name Thomas and it probably would have been near the top of my list if there weren't already three of them running around at every family event. I also don't particularly like Tommy as a child's name, but whatever. Blah blah blah, there are lots of whiny, hormononal posts about it if you feel like digging through the 2003 archives. I was all, "I'm NOT naming my kid Thomas!" and they were all, "But you have to!" and I was all, "No way! And by the way, I'm hungry, give me food so I can stuff my hungry pregnant face please!"

Tom (the husband version) and I decided well before we even found out we were having a boy that we would name him Thomas Benjamin and that he'd go by Benjamin. It was a beautiful example of marital compromise. Hubby had his namesake, and I got to give my child his own name. The fam wasn't happy at first. We were all, "We're naming him Thomas Benjamin, but we'll call him Benjamin." And they were all, "We'll call him Tommy anyway." And I was all, "You better not. And anyway, he'll correct you when he's old enough to talk. And by the way, are you going to eat that 'Cause I'll take it."

It was a sore subject for a bit.

But then we all got to meet him.

And it suddenly didn't matter any more. He was everyone's little Thomas Benjamin. Tommy Ben. Benjamin. Ben. Benjamin Bunny. TeeBeeGee. He has lots of nicknames. And guess what? Everyone calls him Ben or Benjamin most of the time. Sometimes Tommy Ben gets thrown around and I actually really think it's cute. I also love that he has his daddy's name. I never thought that would matter to me, but now I think it's pretty cool. It's especially cool when all four of the TG's are in a picture together... it feels very significant, like we are really a part of something kinda neato.

I don't know if my cousin, his wife or my aunt and uncle read my blog much, if ever. But if they do... might I suggest compromising? And keep in mind that no matter what the name ends up being, once you see his/her face, it won't matter, that's who they are and you won't be able to imagine them being anyone else. And hey, maybe it will be a girl after all and it won't be an issue until next time. :)

Just my two cents.