Please let me know your thoughts on being called by a mn. [name]How[/name] annoying/inconvenient/confusing is this in real life? I didn’t think it was something I’d ever consider but here we are just two months away and our first choice combo uses mn.
We are considering [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Clementine[/name] and would call her [name]Clementine[/name] (or [name]Clemmie[/name], [name]Cleo[/name] or [name]Minnie[/name] maybe). We don’t like the sound of [name]Clementine[/name] [name]Emilia[/name]. Should we look for another mn for [name]Clementine[/name]?
Does your opinion change knowing that she would be named after a great grandmother named [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Celeste[/name] (who happened to be called [name]Celeste[/name])? Thanks!
The people I know who go by middles tend to be slightly annoyed by it. It’s not a problem with people they know well, but it is with strangers or aquaintances. And there’s always the question of when to use which name- if you’re in a lecture class in college, there’s a good chance the professor won’t know you, so you’d write your legal name on the test. But if s/he hears you being called something else, it might cause confusion. And what about on official but not legal documents, like standardized tests in elementary school? It would probably be confusing for a young child to know what to write. Plus, what’s the point? Why not just save yourself the touble? Is a combo that “flows” really more important than daily aggrivation and confusion?
However, there is one situation where I think it might make sense, and that’s when the name you want to call the child by is extremely uncommon- [name]Moxie[/name], for example. But I’d really only advocate that if you want people outside the family to call the child by their first name- so if you want to call your daughter [name]Clementine[/name]/[name]Cleo[/name]/[name]Minnie[/name] and you want non-family members to call her [name]Emilia[/name], go for it. Otherwise, I don’t really like the idea.
I only personally know of one person who does this, but he chose to go by his mn instead of his first. I’m guessing he doesn’t find it too inconvenient, but the choice was left up to him. Other than that, I have noticed that when some people go by their middle name, they tend to leave their first initial, to clarify maybe, when it’s in a professional capacity. Dr. T. [name]Berry[/name] Brazleton comes to mind. I’ve seen the same thing on business cards and marquees – first initial, full middle name, last name. Like J. [name]Jonah[/name] [name]Jameson[/name]. So I don’t think it’s completely unheard of, but I don’t know if most people who do it are doing it by choice or if their parents set it up that way.
In my DDC, there have been a couple of people who are having boys and will be naming them after their fathers (same first, different middle), or they will be Jrs. or IIIs. I think all of them are using the mn (or a nn) for clarity.
I know of a friend who goes by his middle name. As typical here in [name]Ireland[/name], he was named after his father, [name]Sean[/name], however his mother didn’t wish to be calling two Seans around the house so he goes by his middle name, [name]Adam[/name]. he has never encountered any problems with it. Infact, we only found out his real name was [name]Sean[/name] in our last year of school. Schools are usually very accomidating to putting the name that the child usually goes by on the school register. I know a catherine that is [name]Kate[/name] on the school register and two Elizabeths that go by Lizi and [name]Lily[/name] on the school register, the school was happy to allow them to do that. Viewing this, i don’t feel it’s a bad thing to go by a middle name, if it’s what you’d prefer, go for it.
I know quite a few people who go by their middles and I’ve never heard them complain about it. I don’t know if they chose it or if their parents chose it. I do know that there used to be stereotypes about not trusting people who sign things like that, J. [name]Robert[/name] [name]Smith[/name] or whatever, but I’m not sure how true that is any more.
I don’t think [name]Clementine[/name] [name]Emilia[/name] has bad flow. I also think it still honors [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Celeste[/name]. I mean, if you prefer [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Clementine[/name] called [name]Clementine[/name], that is fine by me, but I do think the other is more convenient, even if the other isn’t horribly inconvenient.
If you like [name]Clemmy[/name] as a nn for [name]Clementine[/name], what about [name]Emmy[/name] for [name]Emilia[/name]?
My husband and all the men in his family go by the middle name. He never uses his first name, it is the same as all the men in his family, and that is their tradition (which we happily broke…). But he has never had a problem with it. It is on legal documents and thats it. His dad has dropped it all together. His sister also goes by her middle name, but because it is an easily pronounced American name. She uses her first name with family, or people who speak their language because they can pronounce it. It doesn’t seem to be a problem for any of them, but I don’t think I would do that unless I had a really compelling reason to do it (i.e. family tradition). But in your case if you like the sound of the name combination better as [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Clementine[/name], then do it! I don’t think its that big of a deal to tell teachers “no I go by my middle name.”
The people I know that go by middles have a family name: [name]John[/name] [name]Michael[/name] [name]Brown[/name] the Third, [name]James[/name] [name]Pierce[/name] [name]Johnson[/name] the Fifth, etc. Besides that I don’t know anyone that goes by their middle name.
I think if you love a name so much, put it in the first name spot.
There are two boys at the daycare I work at that go exclusively by their middle names. I didn’t even know that the names they went by were middle names. They go by [name]Seth[/name] and [name]Luke[/name] because they’re parents loved those names but thought they weren’t long enough to be first names. So their actual names are [name]Benjamin[/name] [name]Seth[/name] and [name]Brandon[/name] [name]Luke[/name]. Mom says she doesn’t like that they have to go by their middle names, but that she didn’t want such short names in the first name spot.
I think she should have just used them. Names being short, to me, was a bad reason to put your favorite name in the middle.
In conclusion, if you love a name, use it. If you want your child to be called that name, just use it in the first spot.
I know at least three people who go by their middle names – all are Juniors. However I had NO idea of that fact until I knew them better. Come to think of it, one of them is my brother-in-law and I didn’t even know about it until I had already married into the family (!). He is a [name]Marine[/name], and I do know that there he goes by his first name. I don’t know if the military requires it, but that’s what he does.
I don’t really understand the example about using a legal name on a test and confusing the teacher when another name is used. [name]Every[/name] day all over this message board there are extensive discussions about nicknames, and recommending “proper” names that will effectively never be used because the parent really wants to “get” an adorable nickname. I’m not really seeing how a using a middle name is any different from a nickname. Most people don’t have an understanding of the etymology of names, have no idea which nicknames are “supposed” to derive from others, and frankly don’t care. Why would a [name]Penelope[/name] called [name]Poppy[/name] be any less confusing than an [name]Emilia[/name] called [name]Clemmy[/name] or [name]Minnie[/name]?
That said, I think that [name]Clementine[/name] [name]Emilia[/name] is a perfectly fine combination, and it probably really will be much less hassle to use the “in use” name first. If you really can’t wrap your brain around it though I think it’s fine to use [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Clementine[/name], especially since it echoes your great-grandmother’s name.
There are several people in my family that go by their middle names.
My sister, Magaret “[name]Rose[/name]”
My brother, [name]Robert[/name] [name]Edwin[/name] “[name]Eddie[/name]”
My brother, [name]Abraham[/name] “[name]Todd[/name]”
My paternal aunt, [name]Theresa[/name] “[name]Colleen[/name]”
My maternal aunt, [name]Barbara[/name] “[name]Joanne[/name]”
My paternal grandfather, [name]Charles[/name] [name]Edwin[/name] “[name]Ed[/name]”
I dont think it’s anything to worry about. Name the baby what you want and call them by the name you prefer, I dont know anyone who feels bothered by their parents calling them by the middle name etc, it’s not a big deal.
I have been called by my middle name for donkey’s years but also by my first name all my life. The reason I started going by my middle name was simply that it drove me mad to have people give me the nn of [name]Carol[/name] when my name is not [name]Carol[/name] but [name]Caroline[/name]!! It is hard to go down the track of “My name is not [name]Carol[/name] it is [name]Caroline[/name].” It doesn’t seem to be important to them and they are inclined to sniff a little at the suggestion that you REALLY do want them to call you [name]Caroline[/name] not the ubiquitous [name]Carol[/name]. [name]How[/name] dare I complain??
(More sniffs)
However, it is really fun to have some people call me by my first name and some by my middle and very confusing when the groups get together but only for a minute till they realise I do not expect the [name]Caroline[/name] people to call me [name]Margot[/name] or the [name]Margot[/name] people to call me [name]Caroline[/name], then we get along fine and this [name]Caroline[/name] and this [name]Margot[/name] person mesh very well together.
I don’t think it is a problem at all being known by your middle name. I do love Clementinea and [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Clementine[/name] is lovely but I also [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Celeste[/name]. If it was me I would name my baby after great grandmother.
You could always combine [name]Clementine[/name] and [name]Celeste[/name] and use [name]Celestine[/name]. It’s an actual name, there’s an adorable childrens book series called “Ernest and [name]Celestine[/name]” about a mouse and bear who are friends
My sister’s name is [name]Catherine[/name] [name]Grace[/name] and my parents have always called her [name]Grace[/name]. She’s way younger than me and is a senior in high school and she hates the fact that on the first few days of school the teacher calls for “[name]Catherine[/name]” she she has to remind them that her name is [name]Grace[/name]. She doesn’t feel like a [name]Catherine[/name] and is considering legally changing her first name to [name]Grace[/name].
Personally, it has never made sense to me to name your child one name and then call them by their middle name. If you like the middle name so much and are going to call them that anyway then why not give it to them as their first name? But to each his own and it sounds like most people who have posted who go by their middle names aren’t bothered by it. In my opinion, unless it’s a son named after his father it really makes no sense to me.
My sisters name is [name]Theresa[/name] [name]Michelle[/name]. She goes by [name]Shelley[/name]. She really doesn’t have a problem. Most people never even know her first name is [name]Theresa[/name]. It’s just normal to me, I guess. But she’s never complained about it. And she calls my niece by her middle name a LOT…so it must not bother her, or she wouldn’t do it to her daughter, I don’t think. My ex-boyfriend goes by his second of four names. My grandfather and uncle both go by their middle names. All that happens is you end up getting mail with two different names haha.
[name]Emilia[/name] [name]Clementine[/name] is lovely. And [name]Clemmie[/name]/[name]Cleo[/name]/Minnnie is adorable. [name]Do[/name] what makes YOU happy. You’re the one doing the naming
I go by my middle name and my first name equally, and I don’t have a problem with it. I think people will quickly realize and adapt to what your child goes by. [name]Even[/name] when I’m in a group and people call me different names it’s not really a problem, they all know who I am and that I go by different names according to at what point of my life people knew me.
