Michaella/Michal/Michael Bates

[Three and Done]

Is it really that weird to name all of your kids with the same starting letter? Now I'm starting to feel guilty... I honestly never thought of it like the "J" thing - maybe because we only had three, and they are all the same sex?

My three all have the same initials, and yes, we did it on purpose. They are NOT "weird" names, nor were my ex-husband and I anything close to fundy... We just thought it was kinda cool. My kids actually like it too.

[darareaksmey]

If you like a name, name your kid that name and don't worry about whether other people with that name are "good role models." If it's a good role model you're after, rather than a name, then locate said good role model first before settling on a name. Sheesh.

[mockingbird]

If you like a name, name your kid that name and don't worry about whether other people with that name are "good role models." If it's a good role model you're after, rather than a name, then locate said good role model first before settling on a name. Sheesh.

Seriously. If you want to use a name and care about the meaning then maybe you should research that before using it and then realizing you need to legally change your daughter's name. :doh:

Three and Done, I guess my family is similar. We don't all have the same initials but everyone has a middle name that starts with the same letter as your first name (e.g. if your first name starts with B your middle name does too, but not everyone's names start with B). It started accidentally because both my parents' names are like that and so are mine (not on purpose they just liked those two names) and I think when they had my brother they decided to purposely keep that up. I don't think it's that weird... the weird thing about the Duggars is that they are kind-of running out of them and they just make them up or use weird names/spellings JUST to keep the J trend. Like Jinger and Jubilee.

[lilith]

I am sure that I have read or heard Kelly saying that when they were pregnant with Michaella they thought she would be a boy and planned to name her Michael after Gil's middle name, and then when she was a girl they just feminised it. I can't find a reference, but I am positive of this. Does anyone else recall it?

[desertvixen]

The take-home message there seems to be that they were too stingy to pay up to give her the name they really wanted her to have...

Or do any research...

QFT.

[Deleted07]

I am sure that I have read or heard Kelly saying that when they were pregnant with Michaella they thought she would be a boy and planned to name her Michael after Gil's middle name, and then when she was a girl they just feminised it. I can't find a reference, but I am positive of this. Does anyone else recall it?

Oh that sounds heaps familiar!!!

[gezykah]

If they couldn't afford to change the name they gave their child without researching first then they should not have gone on to have seventeen more kids.

[Coconut Flan]

What bothers me even more is putting the story out there. It seems to me the kind of thing you don't tell the world so as to spare your child any potential embarrassment.

[emmiedahl]

My husband and I had intense name negotiations complete with elaborate arguments (including, where applicable, historical figures and other significant details). Every detail of our children's names was picked apart and examined in detail. So this lackadaisical approach to something that will define a child for the rest of their life seems odd. Maybe this was because we had such different taste, but it seems like most people I know have a lot of discussion over names.

[PennySycamore]

What I don't get is why they changed her name to Michael instead of Michel? It's still only one letter difference and Michel obviously sounds more feminine than Michael.

But, Michel is French!

[Coconut Flan]

I haven't recovered from the thought that anyone who wanted to name a child a Biblical name wouldn't at a bare minimum use a concordance and read each passage where the name appeared.

[FaeT]

I am sure that I have read or heard Kelly saying that when they were pregnant with Michaella they thought she would be a boy and planned to name her Michael after Gil's middle name, and then when she was a girl they just feminised it. I can't find a reference, but I am positive of this. Does anyone else recall it?

All of the Bates kids (and Duggar kids) are younger than I am. And my mother had ultrasounds with me, so they were definitely available during each and every Bates/Duggar pregnancy. Since she's been having ultrasounds, I would assume she had them then. I realize she home birthed, so maybe not, but even home birthing midwives can get you into someone if you need/want it.

We didn't know what we were having during my pregnancies. I didn't want an ultrasound and my midwife didn't have a need for a it. (But - as stated above - I could have gotten one had I so chosen) While I was 100% sure my second pregnancy was a boy, we still had a name picked out for a girl. We still thought long and hard about it and came to a decision after much discussion. But then again we were more of a responsible family unit. We actually made a budget so we could afford to the midwife instead of just relying on free clinics and then claiming to not live off the government.

[kaetrin]

I haven't recovered from the thought that anyone who wanted to name a child a Biblical name wouldn't at a bare minimum use a concordance and read each passage where the name appeared.

I haven't recovered from the thought that it took them some time (months? years?) to realize that Michael is so much more common as a boy's name that it could be confusing and difficult for a girl.

[FaeT]

I haven't recovered from the thought that anyone who wanted to name a child a Biblical name wouldn't at a bare minimum use a concordance and read each passage where the name appeared.

I know!! I personally love the name Jezebel. And I would love to name a daughter Jezebel. But it has too many negative connotations. Living in "God's Country" (i.e. with Amish and Mennonite everywhere) it just wouldn't be fair to a child to do that. But the silly thing is, I wasn't sure of Jezebel's story. I wanted to read it myself to prove that it wasn't that bad of an association. Turns out, it is a bad association. And that's not something I feel is fair to burden upon a child. A little reading isn't difficult, people.

[FloraDoraDolly]

I haven't recovered from the thought that it took them some time (months? years?) to realize that Michael is so much more common as a boy's name that it could be confusing and difficult for a girl.

Uh yeah, it was only the #1 or #2 baby name for boys at the time. I can see not being sure about Taylor or Jordan or Jayden or Morgan. But Michael??? :roll:

[thoughtful]

In 1796, a fiercely determined band of pioneers leaves Maryland after misinterpreting a passage in the bible. Their destination, New Sodom.

A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.

Oh, and:

:D

[pomology]

But, Michel is French!

And a guy's name. A French guy's name. That would never do well with the Bates. At last the name they gave her is good old 'Murrican.

Also, I'm dying to know how they pronounce Michal. Oh, and Kelly? Fuck you for talking shit about my mother's Hebrew name. It's a perfectly fine name. Far superior than most of the weird, fucked up names you gave your children.

[sippin0nsunshine]

But, Michel is French!

And is a boy's name in French, so I guess either way she'd be stuck. :(

Off topic but Michel is one of my picks for a future son's name if I ever have children. :)

[lilith]

All of the Bates kids (and Duggar kids) are younger than I am. And my mother had ultrasounds with me, so they were definitely available during each and every Bates/Duggar pregnancy. Since she's been having ultrasounds, I would assume she had them then. I realize she home birthed, so maybe not, but even home birthing midwives can get you into someone if you need/want it.

We didn't know what we were having during my pregnancies. I didn't want an ultrasound and my midwife didn't have a need for a it. (But - as stated above - I could have gotten one had I so chosen) While I was 100% sure my second pregnancy was a boy, we still had a name picked out for a girl. We still thought long and hard about it and came to a decision after much discussion. But then again we were more of a responsible family unit. We actually made a budget so we could afford to the midwife instead of just relying on free clinics and then claiming to not live off the government.

They only started to have ultrasounds when she got older and her pregnancies got more dangerous. She home birthed lots of her kids with minimal oversight and intervention.

I'm not sure where I heard the story, and she could have been lying when she told it, but I am 100% certain I've heard that explanation for Michaella's name before.

[gustava]

I'm slow. Am still confused as to how to pronounce her name. Do I say Michael and then say the letter a?

Would that be like saying

Michael and then the letter b?

[Jessica]

Mike-a-la.

That post by Kelly explains how they got her name but it doesn't explain why the spelling changes with every post. I think on their first episode on 17K&C it was "Michaeleh".

[freealljs]

So basically Gil and Kelly "Jo" screwed up when naming Michaela and should just say that. I wonder why they haven't let her pick her own name after all these years, like let her decide how it should be pronounced or spelt.

[Hevcoh]

Michal is one of my favourite women in the Bible. She didn't only call her hubby out on being weird, she also lay tefilin and prayed like a MAN.

[gustava]

Mike-a-la.

That post by Kelly explains how they got her name but it doesn't explain why the spelling changes with every post. I think on their first episode on 17K&C it was "Michaeleh".

Thanks. Sounds perfectly acceptable.

[OkToBeTakei]

Michael+a

Heard of Michaela as in Mick-kay-la.

But yes. Too cheap to change it legally ..Michael Michal Michael+a must feel so special. By making the name SOUND the same they went the 'Goodwill' route. Poor girl.