Growing up as a Junior - A Question of Identity
For those contemplating naming a child to come, here's something to consider:
It's not as common as it once was, but giving a boy child the same name as his father used to be a fairly common thing. In practice, it can cause some minor problems, but they're not serious ones. I'm a Junior. George Richard. My father was called George, so it was only natural that my parents called me by my middle name. I was first Dickie, then Dick, and finally Richard, by the time I got into about sixth grade. It prevented confusion about who was being addressed.
Well, as soon as I left home to attend college, the problems began to happen. After a period of trying to get people to call me the name I was used to, I finally gave up. I even tried being G. Richard, but there was my name as George on class records and on every possible official document. Later, when I enlisted in the USAF, there was an immediate end to any possibility of living my life as Richard. It never bothered me too much, but was a minor inconvenience.
Today, I'm still known by everyone in my home town as Richard, and as George everywhere else. When I visit my 87-year-old parents, I'm Richard. It took a while for my wife to get used to calling me that when we visited, which caused some humorous situations from time to time. Some people who knew me in grammar school still call me Dick, but I don't think there's anyone still alive who knows me as Dickie. It can get confusing. People on Facebook who knew me from my home town sometimes are confused, but I make it clear who I am when I friend someone, and that solves it.
There can also be other issues later on, when it comes to identity. Some database software does poorly with the Jr. designation. My health insurance company has difficulty with it. Financially, it can also be an issue, since some credit reporting agencies and other financial institutions also have difficulties with Jr. Most forms you fill out don't have a space for it, and including a comma in a last name fields so you can type Jr. can void the record. That's the case with fishing licenses in MN. I got my dad a fishing licence once when they visited, and the records have been scrambled ever since. The state of Minnesota keeps thinking I'm a non-resident. It's not correctable.
But, it's no big deal. So, if you ever consider naming a boy child after his father, there's no real reason not to go ahead with it. It's guaranteed to confuse some folks and, if you use the boy's middle name, it will cause some additional confusion when he reaches adulthood, but nothing important and nothing that can't be easily dealt with. Still, it's something to consider.
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