DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: Our granddaughter is about to have her first baby and the names she and her husband have chosen have had my wife in tears. They are planning to name the child, first and middle names, for our grandson-in-law’s grandmother. They’re not even that close to her, but my wife says there is money involved, so they caved into his mother’s pressure.
Now they could have included one name from each side of the family, don’t you think? --- HAVING TO HEAR MY WIFE CRYING
DEAR HAVING TO HEAR MY WIFE CRYING: The desire to please what may be seen as the more demanding side of the family could be as much at work here as any inheritance considerations. If that’s the case, the young couple needs to grow a backbone, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Another issue that might be at play is that your grandson-in-law’s family adheres to the tradition of naming children for direct ancestors.
Whatever the case, instead of stewing over the situation, perhaps you and your wife can have a discussion with the young couple and ask, as a point of curiosity, the real rationale behind the name choices.