Can I Name My Baby After the Bad Guy?

Dear Linus,
I think your name is unique and strong. You don't have to cite all other people named Linus to feel valid. What if you were named Robert Smith? Linus is a great name. Were you teased or something? Take care, do you have your blanket? (just kidding)

My daughter, now 22, is named Ariel, after the character in "The Tempest." In her entire life, even as a student at Harvard where you might think they know better, only ONE person has ever said to her (a makeup artist in a department store) "Oh, your mother liked Shakespeare" whereas hundreds have said, "oh, your mother liked "The Little Mermaid."

she might have just had something that made her remember him and she may want to honor his memory.if you don't like the name, try to talk her out of it.If you do like it, then you can keep the original name as the first and make the brother's name the middle name.Or vice versa.Hope this helps :)

I don't see it as WEIRD at all. Obviously her brother means a lot to her even if he did die as an infant. You on the other hand seem to be hungup on the fact that the child was a special needs child and I guess you think that he should just be forgotten. If you had any empathy at all for your wife at this or anytime you would be talking to her in a quiet and polite manner. Instead of showing empathy and affection for your pregnant wife you do a badly spelled post on the internet. Makes me wonder what kind of father you will be, let alone what kind of husband you are. Then again, I am an old fart, wife, mother and grandmother so what do I know?

It isn't weird at all. It's a way of honoring a person's memory.

Well, when "Corky" is born, you will only have yourself to blame for letting her get away with it.

No...it just means your MIL or someone else in the family has talked her in to it...

It's one thing to name your child after a deceased relative who has lived a life worth commemorating, but, to name a child after a sibling who only lived 14 months that has been dead 30 years is a bit strange. Disabled or not, a 14 month old has not developed a fully formed identity. You and your wife agreed on a name that you both liked. Obviously, you're not comfortable with naming your child after her brother and I would let your wife know that though you love her very much, that your child is special to you and you want him to have his own name. Children, as they grow older, want to know why you gave them the name you did. If named for a relative, they want to feel they were named for someone they can emulate and for someone to be emulated, they need to have lived a life that's longer than 14 months. My father was never comfortable with his name. My grandmother had 7 children. One died when a very young child like your wife's brother and when my father was born, she gave him the dead brother's name. I'm sure as your child's birth approaches, she's probably getting sentimental remembering her brother as a sweet, little baby. But, common sense should overrule sentimentality. This is your child, too. The resentment you would feel over naming the child after her brother in a last minute switch as opposed to a name you both took time to mutually choose could negatively affect your marriage even if you paint a smile on your face and pretend it's ok. She needs to consider your child. In the future, he'll be happier with a name he knows both his mom & dad chose and the reasons behind it instead of one that his father was pressured into giving him.

Actually, Joba wasn't his given name. He was born Justin Chamberlain and only changed his name to Joba once he was quite a bit older.

If you had actually read the article, you would not these people are not naming their child after a bad person. They happen to like the name that coincidentally has negative connotations because of a previous person that had that name. For instance, I love the name Jezebel. I think it's beautiful. Unfortunately it's associated with a whore.

Jesse James?

Maybe they didn't like the father...