My first baby is due February 21 and we just found out it's a boy. My husband and I have agreed on the first name being Zackary. My husbands father passed away a few years ago and so he really wants to have the middle name be Dennis which was his fathers middle name. My father was a jr. and he only had my sister and I. I really want to carry on his name also so I'm trying to convince my husband to name our son Zackary Dennis James Riley. I think it sounds good just wanted some other input. Let me know what you think.
I think it sounds wonderful.
If you plan to have more children in the future, you could consider saving one name for a future child, to spread out the honor in two ways: so that each father has his turn, and also so that each child carries an honored family name. I would suggest first naming after your father, since he's alive to receive the honor and since a Sr./Jr. naming tradition goes to the first son. Then I would use Dennis as the middle name for the second child, boy or girl.
Your current plan, however, is least risky: it guarantees using both fathers' names, no matter what happens with your family plans.
One more possibility is to name the child James Dennis Riley. Not only is that a truly great name, it gives your dad a first-name namesake as he would have had if he'd had a son. But of course it means giving up or postponing the name Zackary.
