Names like [name_f]Ann[/name_f] [name_f]Marie[/name_f] or [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Jane[/name_f] do you tack on a middle name with those? I would think two first names would be enough, but I hate the idea of not giving my daughter a middle name if we did go that route. My mum doesn’t have a middle name and I always found it rather odd and it’s probably why she gave me two to make up for her lack of having one ![]()
Personally I plan to give my daughter one first and one middle, but always use them together. (They are simple, understated names.) That way I get to have [name_m]BOTH[/name_m] names I love, and she has an easy and straight-forward way to fill out forms at the doctor’s office, etc. As in, first name [name_f]Mary[/name_f], middle name [name_f]Jane[/name_f], last name [name_m]Smith[/name_m]. This example, [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] was actually my grandmother’s name, and no one ever called her just [name_f]Mary[/name_f]. She was [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f].
If you hyphenate, i.e. [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m], I think it would be fine and lovely to also give a middle name, i.e. [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_f]Cecelia[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m]. Although, this could get to be a bit “much,” especially if in adulthood [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_f]Cecelia[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] decided (as many modern women do) to keep or hyphenate her maiden name with her married name… i.e. [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_f]Cecelia[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] [name_u]Kennedy[/name_u] or [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_f]Cecelia[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m]-[name_u]Kennedy[/name_u]. Then what does she do? Must she drop her lovely middle moniker for the sake of simplicity?
If we give our daughters relatively simple names to begin with, this business of dropping names in the future becomes less necessary.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] my thoughts.
I’m not sure if this is common everywhere, but in [name_f]Canada[/name_f] (mostly [name_m]French[/name_m]-Canadians) girls and boys with hyphenated names also have a middle. Like me, for example. My first name is [name_f]Marie[/name_f]-[name_f]Eve[/name_f] and my middle is [name_f]Suzanne[/name_f] after my godmother. However when people talk to me, they just say [name_f]Marie[/name_f]-[name_f]Eve[/name_f], not [name_f]Marie[/name_f]-[name_f]Eve[/name_f] [name_f]Suzanne[/name_f]. 
I think it’s fine to have a middle name, as well as a hyphenated name. It’s basically the equivalent of having two middle names.
I had a friend that did not give another middle and she regretted it.
A hyphenated name is just a first name. You don’t have to give a child with a hyphenated name (or any child, really) a middle name if you don’t want to, but I would if it were me. If you want to call you child by a double-barreled name, but don’t want to choose a 3rd name as the middle name, I would give a first and middle and just use both.
My sister has two first names (similar to an [name_f]AnnMarie[/name_f] situation) and my parents gave her a middle name as well. So she has 4 names and 4 initials. She loves it. I think it did get a little confusing with school documents and stuff like that because only the first name of her “first name” would appear…but really thats not a big deal. Also, I think it is becoming more and more popular to give two middle names, so I anticipate a lot of people in the future walking around with 4 names, no matter what spot they are “technically” in!
I think it’s kind of overkill.
You can do whatever you want. I see that you live in [name_u]Indiana[/name_u], so keep in mind that if you give a hyphenated first name like [name_f]Ella[/name_f]-[name_f]Jane[/name_f] or [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Louise[/name_f], it’s going to appear as Ellajane or [name_f]Marylouise[/name_f] on official documents. The US doesn’t recognize any type of accent or punctuation in given names on official documents. Personally I would do first name [name_f]Ella[/name_f], middle name [name_f]Jane[/name_f] (or whatever you have in mind). A hyphenated first name with a middle name looks jumbled on paper.