Question about naming your kids

[ColleenSwerb]

Oy. So we're finally talking about baby names. Jordan is putting Jordan Junior on his short list for boy names, and I'm totally fine with that. But here's my question.
Jordan is Jordan Michael Swerbinsky.
He thinks that Jordan Junior should be Jordan Swerbinsky Junior.
I think that it should be Jordan Michael Swerbinsky Junior.

What say you?

[digideb]

I say it's not technically Junior unless it's the same name.

[ColleenSwerb]

See, that's what I say too!
His logic is that his Dad is a JR and has no middle name. Except his grandpa doesn't have a middle name either, so that's why it works out that way. He thinks that it just means Juniors don't get middle names, LOL!

[NeverendingJen]

if it's Junior, the 3rd, etc. then it needs to be IDENTICAL name wise, at least in my book.

[AmberK]

Im with you Col.

[Leila]

Technically you can slap Junior onto the end of any name you want, even if there's no other person of that name in the family, but the definition of a junior is someone with the same exact name as their father/mother. So, I'm with you, the middle name would be necessary. By Jordan's definition, my FIL would be a junior and my husband not--Andrew has a middle name (he's Dieter Andrew, Dad is just Dieter).

Oh! If he really wants to do it without a middle name, the baby would be Jordan Swerbinsky, III since his dad and grandpa have that as their name.

[*Celeste*]

To be a true jr youd need the middle name
Also I didn't have a middle name and no one believed me!

[Libby Pritchett]

Agree with you 100%.

[mariewilcox]

I come from a family that has Jrs., IIIs, IVs, and even Vs - they all have the same exact name - first, middle, last. If you have the same exact name as your grandfather but your father is different, then you are a II.

[xboxmom]

The middle name needs to be the same! My husband and oldest son are both Chandler Joseph Holbrook. Though I slapped II on the end of my sons name cuz I thought it seemed much nicer/cooler than Junior.

[lovely1m]

Yep, you need the same exact name to be a junior. Also no middle name can be a PIA in the future. Some things require a middle intial. Also if you ever join the military and you don't have a middle name, EVERYTHING has NMI rather that just a middle initial. They require everything to be First Middle Initial Last Name. So if you don't have one, you get to put 'no middle initial' on everything. A huge pain.

[taracotta7]

Originally Posted by digideb

I say it's not technically Junior unless it's the same name.

Totally this.

[Tracyfish]

Yep, exact same name with Jr. after it. That's how we have L.J.'s name.

[joelsgirl]

He is SO wrong. You are so right. I hope you win.

[KyRainbow]

I agree with you. In order to be Junior or II, it has to be the exact same name.

[ColleenSwerb]

Originally Posted by Leila

Oh! If he really wants to do it without a middle name, the baby would be Jordan Swerbinsky, III since his dad and grandpa have that as their name.

No, his Dad and Grandpa are Joseph. Then his brother is also Joseph, but isn't a III/3rd. I don't know, it's weird. Possibly his brother HAS a middle name (I just don't know it) and that's why he's not a III? I don't know, lol. But either way, Swerbaby wouldn't be a 3rd, he'd be a Junior.

Originally Posted by joelsgirl

He is SO wrong. You are so right. I hope you win.

HA! I love this, because he never ever admits when he's wrong. GUARANTEED he still won't say he's wrong, even when I present this argument to him. I'll have to present the argument in front of witnesses, lol.

Thanks ladies!! I like being right

[KateD]

According to the plethora of answers I just got when I googled the question (for what it's worth), a child would be Jr. if he shares his name exactly with his father - although that is becoming more lax and the names don't have to be exactly the same, only similar. A child would be a II or III if he shares his name with an older relative who isn't his father (uncle, grandfather, etc.).

According to the same sources, some people are naming their girls with Jr. also

[carriesmom]

I agree with everyone, the name must be exactly to be a junior. That being said, in Arizona, you can stick junior at the end of whatever name you want. I do dependency work (kids removed from homes) and see parents stick junior on the end of names that are close but not the same and it causes a lot of confusion. Best to stick with the exact name and definitely a middle name or else like Mari said, you are stuck with NMN forever.

[ColleenSwerb]

Yes, I definitely want middle names. He's less concerned with them, but I think it's strange to not have one. At least if we have a girl, that's easy and already decided. May is a family tradition passed down through my mom's side that we've agreed to carry on.

[jessica31876]

I agree with you. At least you are not doing the second. I know some people that instead of going with Jr. they just go with so and so II. Im like what happened to Sr/Jr first? LOL

He is going to love you guys when he learns how to write his name though!!

[ryliesmom]

I agree with you.

My DS is William Dalton, named after DH - William Woodrow. Since the middle name is different, DS is not a Jr. but knows he was named after his daddy (and my daddy for his middle name).

[kristijoy]

Ditto what everyone else said! Plus: I like Jordan Michael together. It sounds wonderful!

[Lyd]

Yep - must the exact same name to be a Jr. My nephew has the same name as his dad (my brother), but my SIL insisted that he be T . . A . . Davis II rather than Jr.

And, I didn't have a middle name either and none of my sisters did. Two of my sisters have not given any of their daughters middle names. My other sister and I have given them to our girls.

[mrshobbes]

Yep, I think the Junior is only apt for exact names. Here you can give successive generations the same name and put the numeral after, and then each kid will just get a different nickname.

[Milmomma]

My husband is a junior. He has the exact same name as his father. That's how I think it should be.

[kim21673]

I haven't read all the comments but I agree with you!! My dad is a junior and has the identical name of his dad....middle name too!!

[Nettio]

Yep, you're totally right. My dad is a junior and has the same exact name as my grandfather, middle name and all.

[tanyiadeskins]

Originally Posted by digideb

I say it's not technically Junior unless it's the same name.

this

[Julie Billingsley]

My husband is a junior and I can tell you it's been interesting to find out the "rules" about the naming.

Col, you are absolutely right, you have to have the same middle name included for the junior designation. A classic example of someone that doesn't have the same middle name and therefore is not a junior is George W. Bush. He is not a junior, although people commonly call his dad (George H.W. Bush) George Senior. I'm sure that junior/not-junior thing has plagued them forever.

My husband's junior status has been an issue for us as well. We were audited by the IRS and found that in legal terms that my husband has a different last name than I do. His last name is Billingsley Jr. and my last name is Billingsley. In alpha filing (like for a chart at a doctor's office, legal office, etc) it could pose a problem too. For instance, let's say your child's name is Jack Smith Jr. then alphabetically all the Smiths from Abigail to Zeke would be filed... then Smith Jr. at the end of the files. As you can see this can be an issue for common last names, but it has bitten my husband as well and we actually don't have a common last name.

Worse, if my husband goes to a facility that my FIL has gone to, it's caused issues. At the hospital, my husband has been asked about his stroke... uh, that was his dad. And my inlaws were getting the bills for all MY medical stuff for a while. The billing dept just saw my husband's name and skipped over the jr part... and suddenly my FIL was getting all my bills about my ovarian cyst. I mention this because the junior part will become a huge deal for the child (and his future wife), and you will need to stress the junior in every medical situation.

You will also need to watch your husband's credit report to be sure creditors don't confuse them either. My husband and his dad's credit was totally tangled at one point and my husband had to write numerous letters to get that fixed. You'd think that wouldn't happen, but we've found that with an uncommon last name that people don't investigate to see if it is the right person they way they'd investigate if it was a common last name.

Now that my FIL has passed away, my husband has been told he can drop the jr part. But he won't do it because then it will open another set of problems about confusing him with his dad.

All the best on your baby name decisions!!

[ColleenSwerb]

Wow, that's so crazy all the problems you've had Julie! Definitely something to think about it of we do decide to go that route.
Jordan went through a baby name book with 40,000 names in it. He found 3 that he would consider for a girl. 3. It's gonna be a loooooooong discussion, lol!

[Tracyfish]

Wow Julie...Now I'm scared for the future with L.J. Hopefully we didn't screw up his life too bad with the Jr. thing. LOL!