# The purpose of middle names?



## Love Bunny

I know it sounds stupid, but what is the actual purpose of having more than one name?

I'm just curious as to if it has some meaning behind it or whatever really other than just just be another name?! I know some people have middle names in rememberance of someone but what about the rest? Most of my friends *HATE* their middle names.

I have a middle name but to be honest I NEVER use it and hardly ever put it down on forms i'm filling in or anything.... Not even my bank has my middle name! To be honest its more of a hinderance than anything! And plus I asked my parents and they really couldn't give me any reason behind mind like it was just a random choice!!!

Saying this I don't think our baby will be having more than one name, I just don't see the point plus they take ages to write out full names.... And I think 2 names (surname/forename) sounds nice and simple.

I knew this guy in school called *Gary-Eric David Thomas Evans* and he had to write it out like every time :shrug: It would pee me off something rotten!!!! :dohh:

x


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## Ilove

To give people more choice, and to add meaning to their names

My mother always hated her first name with a passion. At around 14 she chose to use her middle name instead and has done since. This is easier than going through deedpoll as it is already on your birth certificate-in effect it is already your name. She can also tell herself her parents chose it which is nicer than having to ditch their names altogether for something she had to invent

If this scenario doesn't arise and the person likes their first name (as I do) a middle name simply adds more interest and meaning. I love the thought behind mine. I like having it, that it was given to me


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## Love Bunny

Yeaah I guess so, it just seems like alot of the time they don't really have a point thats all? I was just curious anyhow as to why people who've got middle names _do_ have them and whats the reasoning behind it! x


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## Tudor Rose

my dad now uses his middle name as his 1st name. my son has a middle name as we couldnt decide. and we actually flipped a coin to see which would be the 1st name and which would be his middle.


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## Ilove

Ah I see...well my middle name is Carmel and it means "holy mountain" or "paradise mountain" (among other things) and is from the bible. My first name is Maxine which means "the greatest"...My mum wanted my name to be the greatest mountain paradise...and that has real meaning for all of us in the family:thumbup: and she also wanted us to have the choice she had

Plus, I just like it. Shame Hollyoaks ruined it a bit!

Btw I am ironically a tiny person:)


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## moomin_troll

no everyone has a middle name so its not really needed but like has already been mentioned some middlenames have meaning or could be family tradition.

zanes middle name is william after my ohs dad (hes still alive) but its their family tradition plus i think it goes well.

i hardly use my middle name and it doesnt have any meaning


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## binxyboo

My middle name is Elizabeth. It was going to be my first name, but when my parents told my Uncle, he said "Lizbeffs a nice name". They decided then and there that they would change it, as they hated the way my Uncle managed to mangle the name but they still wanted to call me Elizabeth!

When I (hopefully?) eventually have children, I am going to give them a middle name. I lost my brother 3 years ago and would like to name my children after him, but don't want to have to say his name every day. I also think my parents would love this, but like me, would find it too painfull to have to say his name all the time.

My brothers name was Lee James.
If we have a daughter, she would be Freya Leigh. A son would be called Nathaniel, Matthew or Daniel with a middle name of James.
James also happens to be my husbands middle name, so that works out really nicely.


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## Rees

well, i'm just Leigh and always wanted a middle name, so baby gets one! lol

my fella is known as Luke but is actually James Luke, for some reason all of his family use their middle names as to what they're called because they are less formal than their first names (IMO Luke isn't any less formal than James! but his brother is William Jake and Jake def suits him better, Luke can either be James or Luke depending on the situation)

also, being able to shout "Jago Lewis Treisdder you will get here right now" sounds quite nice, lol

our boys name used to be Jenson James - it still might, and we were gonna shorten it to JJ so it would have been used there

but it's all a matter of personal choice, i just hate my name and wish there was another name that i could use!


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## mrskx0x0

I was wondering this too. OH said we should have a middle name but I have no idea what the point of them actually is. My friend and all her siblings have 4 names before their surnames!!! Her parents actually picked them out of a hat to decide which names to have in which order. I can't pick one, nevermind 4!!!


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## mrsraggle

I've known a couple of people without a middle name and it really annoys them that they didn't have one!


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## v2007

I have a very common middle name, Louise. 

I am a fan of them.

Taylors name comes from all her Nannas and i love it, Mollies i picked at random and Katies comes from my best friends. 

V xxx


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## kate.m.

I dont have a middle name, and im fine without one! In fact, at highschool, when people used to get teased about their middle names (theyre usually really embarassing arent they? and people try to keep them a secret, but then someone would sneak a look at the register! lol) i used to feel really pleased that i didnt have one, coz i couldnt have coped with the micky taking- i used to be verrrry shy! My Mum said that she didnt give me or my sisters a middle name because our surname (Hercules!) was more than enough to deal with!


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## kate.m.

Having said that, if we have a girl her middle name will be Caitlyn, as this is a combination of mine, mums and grans names: kate, Marilyn, Gwendolyn! And im pretty sure id like a boy to have my grandads name in the middle too.


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## Rebaby

When i was in high school and there was the whole "ooh what's your middle name" thing going on, i always felt sorry for the kids who didn't have middle names :shrug: i dunno why, i guess in my teenage wisdom i just must have though their parents were a bit dull to not be able to come up with anything !

I absolutely take your point though that sometimes middle names don't mean anything.

I think some people use their 2nd on the list name choice as a middle name, as a sort of "wasn't good enough to be their first name but we still like it" kinda thing. My middle name is laura, and in fact my mum wanted it to be my first name but my dad won the argument. I like the name laura and it goes well with the rest of my name but it doesn't mean anything in terms of our family or why it was picked or anything.

I am keen for our LO to have a middle name, it's just a question of what and picking something for the right reasons. I'd like to honour my grandma (still living) who has been a massive support and inspiration to me, but obviously that's only possible if we have a girl.

I guess it's just a personal choice. I do know a lot of people who use their middle names instead of their first name though, in fact i can think of 6 right off the top of my head, so i guess middle names can be pretty useful when it comes down to it!


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## Fliss_floss

I hate my middle name (Pamela) and never ever use it! 
I've not even really thought about it with my LO, im having enough bother bother choosing a 1st name at the moment! :wacko:
x


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## 555ann555

I use my middle name all the time at work - Ann Grace :shrug: 

I like having a middle name becuase it gives me more options, I did get called Ann Grace on and off as a teen, but I started using it when I got my first job as there was another Ann there. And I actually think of myself more as Ann Grace now than just Ann.

Mine does have a family connection though, neither names were random. I'm named after my Grandma's two sisters who were born in 1890 something.... 

Having said that my hubby hates his middle name, but I think it is because he has an unusual enough first name wihtout having an unusual middle name too! (He's Moreno Batistta).

My grandma's name was a cracker :D She was "Joann Gilbertha Goudie Combe Cooper" :rofl: 

I keep kidding Mo that I want Gilbertha for our baby, and we can call her Bert for short! :haha:

I always feel a bit sorry for people who have only 2 names, it always seems to boring! David Smith. :shrug:


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## Cara x

I don't have a middle name, I've got a double barelled first name, Cara-Louise. Apparently, the story behind it is that my mum wanted to call me Cara and my dad wanted to call me Louise, and Louise-Cara didn't sound right. I mostly just get called Cara though.
I don't think babies need to have a middle name but I do like the thought of paying tribute to someone special in your family. I would really like to have my sister's name as a middle name if we have a girl, but tbh I just don't like the name enough and think it would spoil the 'prettiness' of our LOs name.
I am considering giving her a middle name if she's a girl though, as most of the names we're thinking of are very short, and since her surname is fairly short too, I think it will add a nice ring, and a bit more prettiness to her name.


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## JessiHD

The nice things about middle names is that you can use it if you want or just ignore it, I think its also nice if you dislike your first name. Its all about options...


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## tasha41

IDK I think it's mostly just tradition.. it also depends where you come from.

Some cultures have their mothers' maiden names as middle names.. some countries have traditional middle names, some have religious middle names or are named after family.

Technically, at confirmation I took on my middle name in the church, it's not a legal second middle name but I could add it I guess to my name technically, it's Marguerite, after St. Marguerite Bourgeoys.


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## sophie c

alys has my middle name "Mae" just because ive always liked looking at videos of me as a baby and people calling "sophie mae" it just rolls nicely, i was having thoughts of hyphanating (sp) Alys mae but then decided against it just incase it seemed to child like as an adult,
the men in my family my grandad and other grandad and uncle have david as thier first name but they all use thier middle names as thier first! lol

xxx


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## FierceAngel

luisa has two..

nicole - this was the name oh picked and i had my heart set on luisa
pierina - is my grandmothers name she passed away 7 weeks before luisa was born


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## mrscookie

My Daughter's middle names are Tilly Dawn, Tilly is hubbys Gran, and Dawn is my Gran :D


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## livbaybee1

My middles names Elizabeth, i suppose its just another option of a name we like, and for some i spose its meaning aswell :) , and sometimes people have middle names that join there first names, like names such as ,Mary Kate, Lisa Jayne, Katie Louise , my name isnt like that tho, i just got a first, then a middle then a surname.
I like Bayleigh Rose or Bayleigh Marie or Bayleigh Blaze for a girl :) like a double first name.
Spose like i said just meaning and another option :D x


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## tonyamanda

My kids don't have middle names neither does DH or his family.. hes family is Italian.. im not sure if all Italians do the same but i was happy that we didn't have to think of more names for them.. :)


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## Claire788

I dont have a middle name and have always wanted one! OH first name is David Paul but since birth his own mums called him Paul! Crazy!


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## amylw1

with my eldest i choose his middle name to spite my ex as he said he was having his name as a middle name like he had his dads as a mddle name. he got my choice!

with middle 1 i liked the 2 names he has and we couldnt choose between them.

and with blake, i liked blake OH liked ethan, neither of us was prepaired to give in for a name (but OH did in the end) and therefore we gave him ethan as a middle name.


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## RSbabe

In my family they use the both grandparents first names....hopefully won't be too bad for our kiddie.

Have fun choosing them :winkwink:


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## Jody R

My middle name is Louise and although I didn't like it much growing up (everyone at my school was either something-Louise or something-Jane, or just Louise or Jane) but I do like it now, I think it's quite a grown-up, formal sounding name,

I did look up middle names on the internet and this was one explanation: 

_It prevents your child from receiving the middle name Nmi. This doesn't happen as much anymore, but about 20 years ago, many computer programs were coded to recognize three names and only three names. If a middle name wasn't indicated, the program would insert NMI, which is military shorthand for no middle initial. While most folks do know what this acronym means, there are still some who don't, and if it shows up on a list of any sort, they think it's some exotic middle name. This may seem too silly to be true, but I've seen it and I've heard it more than once._

There was also a suggestion that it originated with Royalty giving their children more than one name to form bonds with others in the same way they married to form bonds with other countries and have allies in battles and wars. 

Also naming a child after two or three wealthy relatives was a good way to assure that child would be remembered in the wills. 

And of course, as has been said here, to give the child other options as an adult if for some reason they don't want to be known by their first name.

I know someone who has a family tradition to name all first-born boys Graeme but then to give them a unique (to them) middle name that they are actually known by. My friend is called Paul, his dad is Stephen and his son is David but they are all Graeme as a first name.

I also worked with a man named James who prefered to go by his middle name, Trevor but on business cards and things he was J Trevor Surname.


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## x-amy-x

My OH doesn't have a middle name and he spent his childhood inventing one :rofl: so we decided to give caitlyn one so she doesn't have to lol


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## Tasha

x-amy-x said:
 

> My OH doesn't have a middle name and he spent his childhood inventing one :rofl: so we decided to give caitlyn one so she doesn't have to lol

I did this too, thank god I am not alone.:haha::haha: I was Natasha Louise. lol.

Partly for that reason (I really wanted one as a child) and partly cos of my husbands family have traditions we gave our children middle names.

Morgan's middle name is William like his Dad, and Granddad, and so on. Naomi-Mae is one name but Mae just went well. Honey I wanted to call Honey Blossom but thought it was a bit much, I hadnt thought of a middle name when she was born sleeping so she stayed as Honey and it is perfect. So when I had her little sister we fell in love with the name Kaysie I gave her Blossom as a middle name as I felt it was sweet but also gave her an indirect connection to her older sister.


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## DizzyMoo

I don't have a middle name but i have a double barrel 1st name, I personally hate the 2nd part not the fact its barrelled just the name itself . I don't use it daily, but i do if i'm filling in forms etc . My sons name is Joshua-Lee so double barrelled like mine, Lee is after my brother so the 2nd name has meaning for me, Lee has always been more like a father figure when i grew up so it meant a lot to me. Bump is being called Jaxon-Ted , Again double barrelled to be the same .. Ted was my granddad & meant everything to me so with Jaxon he could also get j.t or ted as he gets older. I have no problem with my children using the 2nd part of their name if they dont like the 1st. 

Myself & 1 of my brothers have double barrelled 1st names, but my oldest brother doesn't he just has his 1st name. This was because my dads mum at the time was demanding my mum choose his middle name as " william " after her husband (my dads dad) but my mum said " up yours " basically lol so purposely withheld the 2nd name lol


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## Floralaura

My Son is Joshua Matthew Edward W****..
He was going to be Joshua Edward as his dads middle name is Edward, his grandads name is Edward and my brother and grandads middle names are Edward..but we realised his initials would be JEW then..so we added Matthew to it so he has his Dads name with Joshua in front and is JMEW instead lol.


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## tinybutterfly

the only reason middle names were/are used in our country is to show
who the godparents are, which means boys have a girly middle name and
girls have a male middle name.

not always the case, but very often


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## moomoo

We are having a middle name, cause we are greedy and want 2 nice names lol

x


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## minnie83

My middle name is Dawn, because I was born......at dawn! :dohh: I don't particularly like it, and rarely use it, but like the fact that I have one. :shrug:


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## letia659

I know this one its for when the child gets in trouble so he/she will know it :haha: I always knew when my mom yelled Letia Candice I might as well run the other way :)

Ive wondered why we have middle names but also am so glad we do as I go by my middle name and hate my first name even thought its my grandmas name also but funny thing is she doesnt go by it either she is Letia Kathrine and goes by Kathrine so why would my mom name me that :shrug: Ive asked and she doesnt know. I just figure my mom is bad at naming because it was her idea to give my aunt the middle name of maime :haha: which my aunt hates!!


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## beccaboo

middle names are for your records and family history. so like 100 years from now if someones trying to look you up they can find you and tell you apart from the billion other Luke Smiths.

The world is so populated my child will have 2 middle names, so they wont ever have the same name as somebody.


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## EmmanBump

i have 2 middle names 
my name is emma jessica clair ozenbrook 
its sooooo long! lol
to be honest i love my name!
emma was grandmas name and she died 2 days after i was born and she was in the ICU before i was born, so its an honour to have her name :) jessica clair was going to be my name before my grandma passed away 

with my LO, her name will be lilly and isobelle her midle name, its just to make her a little more unique as there will prbably be more thn one lilly in her class etc


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## miffyrocks

My hubs doesn't have a middle name. And I don't think his brother had one either. I don't think he is bothered though to be honest. I have my moms name as my middle name but I don't like it. Both my sisters have middle names too. I like two middle names if we have a boy but I have no clue about one for if bubs is a girl, I definitely don't want to use my name though. I think middle names give a little bit more individuality to a childs name. x


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## sheridon1984

My gran (due to the fact that she is actually an alien - and will be beemed back one day!) had my dad and put just Paul on his birth certificate but has actually never called him that, so he was only Paul at school and she calls him James. So no-one calls him either of his names and calls him Jimmy instead - it can lead to alsorts of confusion! My mum had a lot of trouble sorting out his passport when he got one as he has always called himself Paul James but none of the paperwork matches!


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