Baby Name Question, WWYD?

[Anonymous]

OP, I think you do have to be honest with your husband that you don't want to use the name Donald. I would not say "I hate that name," however. I would probably say something like, you know, the thing about a name like Donald is that I can't shake the feeling that it is not for a young boy. I just can't see a little BOY running around with the name Donald. You could even say "perhaps because the main donald I knew was your father, I just have a hard time thinking about our son being named Donald." I think, as a compromise, you might consider getting DH to sign off on one of your chosen names but then using Donald as the middle name, and then for the first few months, actually referring to the baby by both names. Let's say you used the name Jacob. You could just refer to baby as Jacob Donald in emails, notes about the baby, etc. Eventually you could probably phase out the Donald, but the heartfelt nod to your father in law would be very pronounced in the early months, probably during the time when your hubby would appreciate it the most. That said, you could tell your husband that you want to help him make sure baby knows who his grandfather was, and all about him, even though he never got to meet him. I remember, as a kid, hearing my own grandmother talk at length about her mother, who died young and whom she desperately missed, with love and affection. The stories never got old and to this day I feel almost as though I have met my great-grandmother, even though she died 25 years before I was born. The best way to keep someone's memory alive is to talk about them fondly and often with our children.