Conference oass::babynames

    I don't particularly care for the use of Jr. due to all the confusion
    my family has encountered.  Legally my father it Patrick Joseph Peabody 
    and my brother is Patrick Joseph Peabody, Jr.  Growing up my father
    always went by Joe and my brother by P.J. - today everyone outside the
    immediate family calls my brother Pat.  There have been alot of problem
    with their names mostly due to the fact that when using my brothers whole
    name he sometimes leaves out Jr.
    
    I think my brother likes having the same name because he could use all my
    Dad's credit cards and account at the florist (which came in handy in
    his dating years - my brother just loved sending roses to his dates - I
    think he felt macho or something - he'd say ... just put in on my
    account).
    
    IMO when I think of Jr. I think of a little kid.
    
    Oh yeah... I have an uncle who has a son named after him (John Michael
    Sheilds) - my uncles has always been called Michael and his son has
    always been called John Michael or Little John.

    In my family, my parents named my brother as a Jr.  This has posed many
    problems of recent times...
    
    1)  Brother got a speeding ticked, and someone screwed up at the
    insureance agence....Dad got the fines and penalties, and took months
    to fix.
    
    2) Brother gets into trouble a while ago, and when the person called
    looking for him, did not specify JR....well Dad was pretty upset when
    he was getting acused for things he didn't do...
    
    I'm not saying my brother is real bad, but he has had a few problems,
    and it seems they never get the JR on the end of the name, and it
    always looks like my Dad is the one who was wrong...
    
    I personally thing there is toooo much confusion when there is a jr in
    the family....
    
    Anne Marie
    

    I happen to agree with the replies.  My brother passed away and my
    father got a registration for the draft.  After just throwing it away
    and never connecting the issue, the people called my family. 
    Needlesstosay, it didn't sit well with my mother to have to explain the
    situation and go through the hurt again.
    
    cj
    

    I don't care for the practice of using Jr...but even more confusing is
    what my parents did.  My father's name is Joseph Donald Bryant, my
    brother Joseph _David_ Bryant.  So they are both Joseph D., but Jody
    (what we call my brother) is not a Jr.  It might not be so bad if they
    didn't work for the same large company for about 15 years.  It has led
    to a great deal of confusion...
    
    -Tracy
    

    There hasn't been a jr. in either my or my husband's family
    in many generations. Both of us do not approve, on several grounds:
    1/ The confusion issue stated in the last few replies. With paperwork
       ruling all aspects of our lives these days, a small screw up could
       take countless hours and $$$ to untangle (and maybe have some
       lasting damage).
    
    2/ It does imply a very young person (read immature) to most who see  
       this label. If a person is called "Junior" by his family, it 
       implies inferior or "junior" to the other, older person of that
       name
    
    3/ It robs the child of his individuality as a person. There comes a 
       time in most children's lives where they strive to be come unique
       individuals, and the last thing they want to be identified as, is
       the "chip off the old block" the father's son, the father's image.
    
    On the other hand, we believe it is a high complement to see a name
    live on in another person, so having another member of the family
    named for a person (great uncle, great grandfather, etc) is not bad,
    since that person is further removed from his namesake. 
                                                              
    My husband's family loosely practice the tradition of awarding the son
    the name of the  father as a MIDDLE NAME. No confusion.
    
    Monica