I think naming after a family member is what a middle name is for.

I love family names! My son is named after my father and granfather, and my daughters have both of my grandmothers' names and my mother's name in them. I think it's great to honor family members in that way.

I never felt obligated to name my kids after anyone in our family. But my Mom and I share a middle name. Then I gave my 1st daughter my mothers 1st name as a middle name. My eldest son shares the name Adam with a Grandfather of mine who lived in the 1700's!! It wasn't planned, it was a coincidence. None of my other kids have a family name. Later I regretted not incorporating more family names into my children's names, as I got older and read family records as there were some lovely names.

My 3 sisters are Terry, Robin Colette and Beth. I decided if I ever had another girl she would be Tara-Beth Colette, but there were no more babes.

I think it can be very hurtful some times.

you name a kid after a grandmother/grandfather on one side bu what if yoy don't have another girl/boy the grandmother/grandfather on the other side can feel hurt.

I think choosing family names as a name for your child is a great tradition as long as you get along well with your family and don't have "jealous" people.

Most of the names in my family i have to choose from are very boring!

girls: Ann, Rae, Kay
boys: William, William or Lyn

We don't have any family traditions, at least we didn't until i gave my daughter my middle name. And it wasn't to start a tradition, we were simply thinking about a middle name for Tayla & my mum suggested Elyse (she was half joking). A few wks later we still hadn't thought of anything we really liked & i told my partner what mum had said. We both realised we really liked it. So Tayla Elyse she became.

Now that i'm pregnant again & am yet to find out what we're having i'm not sure what to do now. If its a girl i'm not sure whether to give her Elyse too (as its not necessarily a tradition) & if it's a boy i don't want to use my husbands middle name. Sounds horrible i know but its Richard & i really don't like it. Thankfully he agrees but i think he'd still like to use it, & i don't want to deny him that.