# Why wasn't Dubya named George H.W. Bush Jr.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923 "2021-01-31T15:32:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ElDeLuxo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@ElDeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElDeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/41 "2021-02-03T12:43:21Z")
I have never heard of that rule before, either. My partner is named after his father, and he’s emphatically a II, not a Junior. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/42 "2021-02-03T13:06:12Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > When **I was pregnant** we attended a big family reunion, and someone asked me and my > > (emphasis supplied) > Wait, you are a _chick_? 😲 Yeah, it’s right in the user name: puzzle gal. I’m a gal who collects mechanical puzzles. My kids sometimes accuse me of being a transman in denial. So if you want to keep thinking of me as a guy, you have my blessing to do so. But yeah, i have a womb, and have born two children, and nursed them at my breast. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/43 "2021-02-03T13:11:53Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Maybe George HWB had grown weary of trying to squeeze two middle names onto a lifetime of forms, and he decided to give his son a break. I think that’s as close to a factual answer as we’re going to get, given that the two people who really know are dead. I don’t know anyone other than GHWB with two middle names, and I’m guessing that’s because all the forms you will ever fill out have room for only one. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/44 "2021-02-03T13:17:02Z")
I know lots of people who have two middle names. Most often, the second one is a family name. For example, my son’s second middle name is my last name. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/45 "2021-02-03T13:19:14Z")
Does the entire discussion in this thread apply only to persons of the male persuasion? Are there no female sort of persons with the same name as a parent or other ancestor? And none with suffices like Sr. or Jr. or II or III etc.? Is this strictly a man thang? I did know of one, sort of: I had a female supervisor who had the same name as her mother. But she didn’t use Jr as part of her name. Once I had occasion to call her at home, and got her mother instead. I asked if I was speaking to Sr. or Jr. and got a chuckle out of that. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/46 "2021-02-03T13:19:19Z")
I read your username as _puzz_ _legal_. Silly me. I think I called my Mother trans once. Never again. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/47 "2021-02-03T13:22:56Z")
My kids have done it frequently. And not to needle me, but as a serious suggestion. And my voice is low enough that telemarketers frequently refer to me as “sir”. In all honesty, if i were twenty i would probably identify as non-binary. But as a person in her sixth decade of life who has been treated as a woman for most of that time, and born two children, I’m used to being thought of as a woman. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/48 "2021-02-03T13:24:48Z")
I have two middle names. When i got married i added a name rather than replacing one. My husband did the same, and picked up my maiden name as a second middle name. All four are on my passport. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/49 "2021-02-03T13:25:52Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > My kids sometimes accuse me of being a transman in denial. As long as they don’t give you a tie for Mother’s Day.😉 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/50 "2021-02-03T13:27:24Z")
Since women traditionally take their husband’s name when they marry, it would be unusual for a daughter to have exactly the same name as her mother. I mean…i guess they could both have the husband’s last name until the daughter married… But what’s the point? I thought men did that to try to perpetuate themselves in some metaphysical way. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/51 "2021-02-03T13:32:49Z")
Oh, thats fine. In my case it was a bit of stupid and ill-advised back-talk from a broody teenager who kept getting into trouble in school, not since she was or is a transwoman. My mother though even back in the 1990’s always taught me to not make -phobic comments, it was one of her red lines. On topic, I think in the UK the tradition always has been to say “the elder”, or “the younger” to diffrentiate between father and son if necessary. LIke two Prime Ministers, [William Pitt the Elder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pitt,_1st_Earl_of_Chatham), and [William Pitt the Younger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pitt_the_Younger). > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Since women traditionally take their husband’s name when they marry, it would be unusual for a daughter to have exactly the same name as her mother The last two Queens of the United Kingdom were both named after their mothers. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/52 "2021-02-03T13:51:10Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I mean…i guess they could both have the husband’s last name until the daughter married… But what’s the point? My grandmother, and my aunt who never married and lived with her, had the same first and last names but different middle names. Same with one of my mother’s friends and her daughter, but they didn’t live together. My grandfather, my father, and I all had the same first names, but different middle names that came from our own grandfather’s (paternal in my grandfather’s case, maternal for my father and me). In official contexts, I always use my middle initial. My great-grandfather actually named his first-born son after himself, but he died in infancy, as did the next son. So my grandfather, the third son, ended up named after my great-mother’s father rather than his own father. My father’s brother was named after my great-grandfather, but died young as well. My brother named his son after himself, but they have different middle names and go by different versions of their first names. More confusingly, my sister, my brother’s wife, and my nephew’s wife all have the same first name. We generally refer to them by first and middle name to avoid confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/53 "2021-02-03T14:04:15Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I read your username as _puzz_ _legal_ . Me too. Legal training at work, obviously. I still pronounce it that way in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/54 "2021-02-03T14:07:00Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > LIke two Prime Ministers, [William Pitt the Elder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pitt,_1st_Earl_of_Chatham), and [William Pitt the Younger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pitt_the_Younger). Is that a convention used by the actual people and their contemporaries or one used by students of History? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/55 "2021-02-03T14:45:30Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yeah, it’s right in the user name: puzzle gal. I didn’t make any assumptions about your sex but I always read your user name as “puzz(le) legal.” A legal puzzle! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/56 "2021-02-03T14:46:40Z")
Another lawyer checking in! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/57 "2021-02-03T14:51:48Z")
Yep! … ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/58 "2021-02-03T15:44:50Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > [@AK84](#): > > > > LIke two Prime Ministers, [William Pitt the Elder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pitt,_1st_Earl_of_Chatham), and [William Pitt the Younger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pitt_the_Younger). > > Is that a convention used by the actual people and their contemporaries or one used by students of History? I refer to President Bush the elder and President Bush the younger in casual conversation. It’s unambiguous, and no one has ever failed to understand which Bush I was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/59 "2021-02-03T15:52:48Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > the two people who really know are dead Yeah, I did not expect either of them to post here. But I was wondering if they had ever made a statement about that had been made public. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923/60 "2021-02-03T15:54:14Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > (emphasis supplied) > Wait, you are a _chick_ ? 😲 Wait, you _assumed_ puzzlegal was a guy? Why? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-dubya-named-george-h-w-bush-jr/931923.md?page=4)