Naming your child can be very tricky. Not only do you have to think about what you like, but you also have to consider so many other things. Things like nicknames, spelling, connotations, and initials. Many things I have read said that names can even set your child on a course to their future careers! (I’m not going to give examples just in case my readers may have or love those names lol) But for once this post isn’t about me.
This post is about some friends of mine who are having a baby about 1 month before me. They have come to me asking for my dear readers advice and input. I have bragged about you often you know! I say..my readers are experts when it comes to opinions! So here’s one for you….is this couple dooming their child for the rest of his/her life?
A little background…
In the Jewish faith it is customary to honor a loved one who has passed away by naming a child using the letter of their first name. In this particular case, whether it’s a boy or a girl the child will be given a name beginning with the letter L. The middle name that the couple wants to use honors the dad’s, mother’s maiden name which begins with the letter B. Finally, their last name begins with the letter S. Therefore, the child’s initials will be L. B. S. Now at first glance I don’t think it looks bad at all! But after a conversation I was reminded the LBS is the abbreviation for POUNDS!
Again, I didn’t think it was so bad, but I was reminded that kids can be cruel (which is true), and the couple is worried that they are dooming their child. “What if it’s a girl and she is heavy” he asked me. “Will the kids then mock her and call her POUNDS?”
Personally, I don’t think it’s a big deal. I don’t think most kids put two and two together when it comes to initials. That they will use it mockingly. So which is it? Do you think it would affect a child more if it was a girl vs. if it were a boy?
So now I am asking you! What do you think?
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I think a girl might care more but then again if she gets married And takes her husband’s last name her initals change. I guess I would stay away from it just to be safe.
It’s not a big deal. How many people will even know their entire name? My initials before I got married were NAG. I was almost a teenager before I even realized myself.
I don’t think it’s a big deal. Two of my kids are in school, 6th & 7th grade, and NEVER has a situation come up where they’ve had to use all 3 initials. They’ve used their first and last, but never the middle. Kids never even know each other’s middle names- they barely know the last name, lol.
Congratulations to your friend!
I think it’ll be okay. I had the kind of name that depending on where I lived (like in a predominantly Jewish town-working at a synagogue) that is constantly mocked or brought up. But honestly I don’t care. It wasn’t until I was a young adult that it even occurred to me that it may be an issue.
Leah’s initials are LAD and someone said to me recently that I should have named her something else for fear that she may be made fun of. *shrug* She knows their LAD and she thinks it is funny.
Children are going to make fun of our kids for one reason or another. If is not for their names then it will be for something they wore/or didn’t wear, how their voice sounds during puberty or some random thing that happened at school. I think it is far more important that we help them develop a positive self image and teach them that what other people say & think may hurt-but it doesn’t matter.
*they are LAD- I hate typos like that!
probably the dorks would be the only ones who could figure out LBS = pounds ? If it’s a boy, he’d probably love that nickname, lol. I think it’s fine … By advice would be to not stress over initials ?
Will the child be called by their first and middle name? Usually kids dont know other kid’s middle names. I honestly NEVER would have put the “pounds” thing together if you hadnt said it. If it were me, Id use the names. ?
A majority of the time they won’t use a middle initial in school – you just go by first name last name. I don’t think it’s a big deal.