2 Granddaughters In The Same Family With The Same First Name?
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My husband and I like the name “Ruby” for our first daughter’s name. However, my dad already has a granddaughter named “Ruby,” who thus is also my niece. BUT, she is 27 years old, lives on the other side of the country from my dad and us and has had very little contact with my dad and me over the years. So, is it okay to use the name even though it has already been “taken?” Would it be strange for my dad to have 2 granddaughters with the name “Ruby” even though he has almost no communication with the adult one, but will see the baby one quite frequently? "Ruby" is the first name of my dad's deceased mother.
By hbrunk
Thu, 07/05/2012 - 7:39am
Thu, 07/05/2012 - 7:39am
Replies
People who know about your niece might assume you've named your baby after her, so you'll need to be prepared to explain that's not the case. The fact that Ruby was your grandmother's name helps your case, I think. I've known other families who named children after the same person and it's worked for them, so I think you should be OK.
More importantly, have you talked to your dad about it? It was his mother's name, and the adult Ruby is his granddaughter, even if he doesn't see her very often. I think just a simple,"we'd really like to name this baby after grandma, what do you think?" should suffice. If he's quick to mention there is already another Ruby, it's probably a good sign that it'd be weird for him.
I don't see why not. Both would equally be great-granddaughters of your Grandma Ruby. I know that my great-grandfather had (at least) two grandsons named Jacob, and the sky didn't fall. Both Jacobs were born and named in the same tiny village in Europe and would have grown up together, except for the fact that my Uncle Jack came to America as a toddler. The other Jacob stayed in Europe, survived WWII as a partisan in the forest and ended up in Buenos Aires after the war. And so the two cousin Jacobs never really interacted, although they would have had history not intervened.
I share my name with a cousin who is 15 years older than me. She too lives far away and so there has never been any inconvenience. My grandmother did think it a bit odd to have 2 granddaughters with the same name, but oh well.
I honestly don't see the problem. But then, my family reuses names all the time so we have cousins and other relatives with the same name, and in my family's case they are relatives who see each other all the time.
Your dad may think it's an honor that his family thinks highly enough of his mother that multiple people want to use her name.
I agree that two distant cousins with the same name is perfectly normal and fine.
I have a cousin with a nearly identical name to mine, just one different vowel sound - think Anna as ANN-uh versus Ana as AH-nah. We're only a few years apart, saw each other at every holiday, and still did fine. Lots of families have a Big Anna and Little Anna.
My dad recently passed away, so blended family issues are much on my mind of late.
It's curious to me that your half sibling (Correct?) named a child after her greatgrandmother, but that they aren't close with your father.
It's perfectly none of my business, of course. My only point is that I would go ahead and use the name (which I Love), unless you think there is any chance that it would cause a further distancing in any of those relationships.
It needn't be Your burden, but it might be a nice opportunity to send a lovely, little note to the other Ruby....if you had any desire to do such a thing. I'd imagine your father is getting up in years, if he has a 27 year old granddaughter, and time becomes important at this stage.
Again, perfectly none of my business, but my two cents.
A lot can happen in 27 years to change relationships. Plus, she was named after her parent's grandmother, not father, and nothing was said about the relationship with the grandmother.
Go ahead and name her Ruby, it's a lovely name!
I think it's fine. Lots of families have 2, 3, or 4 generations with the same names and repeated names within the generation. Given it's a family name for you I don't think anyone would bat an eyelid about it. I would probably tell your father you are thinking of using the name, just in case he has an issue with it, but honestly I don't think it is at all weird.