Family Names: do I haaaaave to use one?

Many families have names that have been passed down over the generations, it's a pretty common thing. Maybe you want to honor someone in your family who you were very close to, or maybe a family member that passed recently. 

Some of you out there may really like the idea of naming your little girl after your cherished grandmother. But do you really want to name her Beverly? Or your little boy after your favorite uncle... Uncle Lester? Ewwww. Can't there be a better way?

I think you have a few options.

First option- use it in the middle name! Ta-da! Easy peasy. It's tried, it's true. It works. Nuff said.

Another option- use a variation of the name, or something similar.

Don't care for Lester? Maybe Alastair. Not a fan of Beverly? Try Everly. So close, but much more fresh and  trendy.

Here's a few common family names and ways you can vary them.

Rose--> Rosalie

James--> Jameson

Theodore--> Thaddeus

Ann--> Annalise

Eleanor--> Elise

Mary--> Marielle

Michael--> Malachi

William--> Liam

One more option- give them an entirely different name, but using the same nick name!

Maybe your great aunt was Evelyn, but went by Evie. You could use Genevieve, and still call her Evie!

This works in reverse as well. You could name your son after your grandpa Alexander (who went by Alex) but your could call him Xander. Yay!

The list could go on and on... There are so many options out there for you! So don't feel saddled down by a family name- there is a way to work it and still have a name that you love and honors that special family member as well.