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 It would pee me off something rotten!!!!

x

 

[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

 

[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

 

[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.

 

[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 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

 

[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

 

[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.

 

[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!

 

[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!!!

 

[mrsraggle]

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

 

[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

 

[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!

 

[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.

 

[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 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!

 

[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!
x

 

[555ann555]

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

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 She was "Joann Gilbertha Goudie Combe Cooper"

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

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

 

[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.

 

[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...

 

[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.

 

[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