[name_m]Just[/name_m] visited the hospital to welcome a darling new baby. The parents are only giving him a first name. Earlier in the summer our closest friends announced their new daughter’s name, they also did not give a middle name stating that they never use theirs and find them pointless.
I am the complete opposite and can’t imagine my children not having a middle name.
Fellow Berries, thoughts? For, against middle names? Is this trending or am I just more aware of it now?
I’m 100% for middle names. I think it adds to a person’s identity, making them more unique. Such as [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_m]Smith[/name_m], so basic and many others out there. [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_m]Atlas[/name_m] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] is drastically different and unique.
I have an aunt whom doesn’t have a middle name “because my grandparents ran out of names”… she’s 4 of 6, and the 2 after her have middle names so the reason really bothers me.
Two of my closest friends also don’t have middle names, “it’s a tradition for girls in their family to not have middle names.” When I was in college monograms were HUGE and they always felt left out.
I’m definitely in favor of middle names! I love names, so I like having a chance to use more than one. Plus I like that you can use names in a middle spot that you wouldn’t for a first (either because they’re too unusual, to popular, etc). It definitely seems weird to me to not use a middle, but different strokes.
I’m in favour of middle names! Middle names make a name much cooler! This makes me think about how me and my oldest sister have one middle name and my younger brother has two (all of my other siblings also have only one middle name, but they are only stepsiblings so they were not named by my mother) I felt left out because where was me and my sister’s second middle name???
Another pro-middle name person. I always feel like people who don’t have them were cheated out of a name. My grandma’s parents couldn’t agree on a middle name so she didn’t have one and she hated it. She was so excited to get married because her maiden name could become her middle name.
I am I favor of middle names, however my grandfather doesn’t have a middle name, so I think it’s been going on a long time, just not many people omit a middle name.
100% pro-middle name! I can understand it happening in past generations, but today I’m confused as to why a parent would not give a child a middle name what with the resources they have to find names (unless of course there is a good reason for it like a tradition, personal significance, etc). [name_m]Even[/name_m] though I like middle names because they add uniqueness, I also think that flow and sound in a name is important and using a “filler” middle name is preferable to using none at all.
I think it may have used to be a lot more normal, way back when? According to my family tree, on my mom’s side, middle names only really started becoming used in my grandpa’s generation. On my dad’s side, my grandma’s generation didn’t have middle names and neither did my dad’s generation. However, they gave my siblings, cousins, and myself middle names. Dad has a middle name, mom doesn’t and they are only around 3 years apart. Maybe it’s just a personal preference thing. In any case, I’d hazard a guess that middle names are very common now.
I certainly don’t find middle names to be pointless. They are not usually used as much as one’s first and last names, but can still be important identifiers! They can also allow opportunity for the use of a name that, for whatever reason, didn’t get used as a first name but is still important to the parents to use.
I’m pro-middle name. I feel like it’s an added protector for identity theft. In the age of social media, I know a lot of people who go buy their first and middle on facebook, so their names are less recognizable/searchable. No middle and you’re stuck with your first and last. I also just like giving a child the choice to use the names as backup.
I think it comes down to tradition or personal preference; I know I’ve seen a lot of babies with the typical 1 middle, but I’ve recently seen a couple with 2 mns which is new (for me to see irl).
I’m completely for middle names, in fact I’m a huge advocate for two middles! I myself have had two middles, and I really love it. As well as being able to use more names, it gives room to honour family, friends, characters, a special place, or event. And as previous posters have mentioned names that might not be fit first name criteria can go in the middle and work really well. I find that middles can help give names a certain feel (e.g. whimsical, adventurous, elegant, determined, feisty), and enhance the first. For example my middle adds to the meaning of my first name; something that’s now a must for my favourite girl name.
So I love middle names! They also make an interesting talking point, and it’s so rewarding when you the perfect combo.
I adore middle names, but could imagine myself not giving my kids middle names. I come from Croatia, and people here rarely have middle names. And if they do, most of them have middles because of religion. For example, my uncle Saša has a middle name that only exists in church, and it’s [name_m]Ivan[/name_m]. But on documents and stuff, he is adressed only as Saša. Yet in church, he’s Saša-[name_m]Ivan[/name_m]. So, my kids will definitely have middle names, but I grew up in a country where not many people have middle names, and it’s not weird to me.
I think it depends on too many factors and is too subjective to give a definitive answer. In many cultures there are no middle names, for example in [name_f]Russia[/name_f] they have patronymics instead, and most people in Japan don’t have middle names.
Personally I like middle names, I like having one, and one or two middle names is cool. Creating combos is a big hobby of mine so I could only imagine doing that if the time came.
I go back and forth on middle names. My mother’s side of the family doesn’t tend to use them, and I don’t have one. In a way I find them ostentatious, and I find it interesting that they arose in the past few hundred years or so among the upper classes, and then gradually filtered down to other classes of society. Before that, a name was a name, used to call someone by. I know some name enthusiasts place a lot of importance on the legal name, but that doesn’t matter so much to me. I’m also happy not to go with the trend, and in a time when the amount of middle names your average parent uses is expanding, I like to go in the opposite direction.
On the other hand, I find that coming up with a beautiful combo that is poetry in itself is lovely, and it is very special to be able to pass on parts of your heritage and things that are dear to you in your child’s name, so I sometimes consider giving my future children middle names. Also, if my married name was very common, I would feel particularly inclined to add another name in there for my children to make them stand out from the crowd.
I could take it or leave it, especially when I adore a name but can’t come up with just the right combo!
Whilst I am absolutely not anti-middle names, and if you want to use them that’s great for you, but I don’t feel they are necessary at all. I don’t have one, my siblings don’t and I know a lot of people who don’t have any either.
so right now I think I wouldn’t use any.
of course I do understand they joy of coming up with a great combo or the emotional side of it, especially if something occured during the pregnancy.
but I definintely don’t think it is a kind of neglection not to give your child, which has a first name you love, a middle name!
I know certain cultures don’t really use middle names like we use them in the English speaking world. Speaking from my own cultural perspective, I don’t think not having a middle name is a really big deal; some people think it adds an extra layer of identity, some people grow up to hate their middle name, some people choose to go by their middle name instead of their first… I could understand why it would be a bummer when it feels like everyone else around you has one and you don’t, but overall it’s a nonissue. It’s just an extra slot on the birth certificate.
I’m personally in favour of the tradition. I like my middle name, and I tend to gravitate toward the idea that previous Berries have posted that it helps individualize you. There might be hundreds of people with your first name, and even dozens with the same first and last, but the likelihood that they share the same middle, and therefore the same name overall, is slim.
I’m in favor of middle names! I love names a lot, so I couldn’t imagine a name with out a middle. But everyone has their own opinions. My Aunt decided not to give my two cousins a middle name. Also, my friend’s Grandma doesn’t have a middle name.
My parents chose not to give me a middle as I have a hyphenated first name, however both my brothers have family names as a middle. When I was a child (aged approx 5/6) I felt left out so I did try to take friends names as a middle ([name_f]Angela[/name_f] is the one that I remember) but as an adult I am very happy not having a middle name.
To me middle names are personal, whether you have them or not, and quite frankly if parents do not like a name enough to put it in the middle then I think it is better to have none at all rather than an awful middle. However I do like honour middles and names that mean something to the parents.
So really giving your child a middle or 3 is completely individual to the parents, there is no right or wrong way.
Also I have known people of all ages not have a middle, it is more common than we realise.
I would be heartbroken if my child didn’t have a middle name! It’s something fun about them that not everybody knows. I’m also more comfortable using a middle name that is more “out there”: something I might not dare to use as a first name. Plus, if you love names, then you get to use more of the ones you love!
It depends of the country. I have two surnames, so has everybody in Spain and Latin American countries. So, in those countries having just 1 name it isn’t a problem. But in countries where people only has a surname I would advise to give your kids a middle name. Not because it looks longer or cooler, but to avoid repetitions. Having two surnames or two names shortens the list of people that has the exact same name than you and that’s helpful on your every day life. [name_m]Just[/name_m] think in the amount of [name_f]Marys[/name_f] there were in the [name_m]Tudor[/name_m] court and think how helpful it would have been if they had middle names xD.