A Face In The Crowd
So my last name is Doe. It hasn’t affected my life much apart from occasionally being called “Dodo” while growing up or friends spelling it “D’Oh” as a joke, and I’m generally pretty neutral about it. My wife is six months pregnant and wants to name our future son after her grandfather, who passed from cancer in September. His name was John.
I liked her grandfather, and I know he and my wife were very close, but I won’t even consider it, not even for our son’s middle name. I feel that’s just setting him up for a world of problems, especially when he grows up and has to apply for jobs. Nobody’s going to believe “John Doe” is his real name. My wife thinks I’m being a jerk for vetoing a name with a strong family connection and says I’m exaggerating the issues he would face.