Dear Jennifer,
My boys are about 3 years apart and we wanted to give them strong Persian names. Our oldest is Darius (Dariush) and our youngest is Darian. I loved their names until recently when people/strangers started commenting on how similar they are, and said it’s “so confusing.” Our family voted on our youngest son’s name and chose Darian (who is 16 months old).
Now I’m worried that they are going to be made fun of at school. In your opinion, should I start calling Darian by a nickname like Rian or Ian? Or am I over-analyzing this situation?
My husband thinks Darius and Darian are fine and there is no issue, but I’m losing sleep over this. Your advice is really appreciated.
Sincerely,
Shadi (confused Mom)
Hi Shadi,
Thanks for writing in! If you had asked me about your second son’s name before he was born, I might have advised against the name Darian. The names are similar and it can cause confusion within the household. It would not even have crossed my mind, though, that they would get teased for it.
Now that Darian is over a year old, he’s already identified with his name and I wouldn’t go do anything rash like changing it legally. Your solution is perfect: start thinking of some nicknames that you can at least call him at home that will avoid confusion within the household. If he likes his nickname, he’ll take it to school with him. If not, maybe he’ll choose his own!
If you love the names, and it’s not detrimental to your child’s self-esteem, don’t worry about it. And definitely don’t lose sleep over it!
Good luck and let me know what you decide.
Sincerely,
Jennifer
Jennifer Moss is the founder & CEO of BabyNames.com. For almost 30 years she’s been a valuable resource on names and naming and has answered questions on social media and in her popular column, Ask Jennifer, which we are bringing back to our blogs! Have a question for Jennifer? Email names@babynames.com.
Jennifer Moss (she/her) is the founder of BabyNames.com, author of The Baby Names Workbook, and Producer of The Baby Names Podcast. Jennifer is widely regarded as the leading expert on popular baby name trends and the naming process, serving as the authoritative source on the subject for national and international media.
Jennifer entered the tech arena in the 80s as a software developer and database architect, and became a pioneer in the Internet industry. In addition to operating BabyNames.com, Jennifer owns a web development agency in central California.
