So I’m from the states & never really heard someone say they have 3 names & a surname. Growing up all forms only have one middle initial spot & Im not sure there would ech be room on a drivers license - ect.
[name_m]How[/name_m] does it work, & why do it ? No offense of course, just curios
I strongly considered giving my daughter two, but we didn’t because we had enough trouble agreeing on two names.
My boyfriend has two middles. He only puts the first on forms, though.
[name_m]How[/name_m] does it work? You just write it in.
Why do it? So you can use more names.
It’s traditional for some people, but honestly they’re very rarely used (maybe on your wedding invitations if you’re being very formal or by flowery preteens) and it’s obviously unnecessary. Some people just like the way they sound.
But then, middle names in general are rarely used. I can only think of a handful of people who even know what my middle name is and most forms only ask for your middle initial.
So I guess, if you like the way it sounds then do it. I can’t see that it hurts anything.
In my family it has been a tradition for generations. [name_f]One[/name_f] middle name is chosen, and the second middle name is Hawaiian and usually given by another member of the family. This is VERY common for people from [name_m]Hawaii[/name_m].
I usually just give both initials. If there is room for only one I use my first.
All my family and my husband’s family only have two names, a first and a middle, but I know a few people who have given three to their children. [name_f]One[/name_f] of my friends isn’t married, the baby took her boyfriend’s surname and she used her name as the second middle, as it’s also a name that is used for boys in its own right (think [name_m]Scott[/name_m], but not). Another used the middles to honour a family member from each side of the family, rather than try and combine them into one or leave one side out. My daughter’s friend has two middles just because her parents couldn’t decide so they thought they might as well use both.
My mum and brother have two middle names and they don’t have problems with forms as far as I know. My cousin has four, lol. I think she does the first three as they’re quite short, and then the last initial.
Some catholic churchgoers will give their baby 1 middle name at birth, and then they are given a 2nd middle name (usually one of the 12 disciples or a saint or something) at their christening or baptism.
I did it for my daughter and I used a hyphen between them so they both end up used on forms. [name_f]One[/name_f] of the names is [name_f]Ida[/name_f], for my husband’s deceased grandmother. He really wanted it despite the fact that it didn’t flow very well with out daughters first & surname. I also wanted to honor a deceased cousin of mine whose name’s feminine version is very lovely in the mix. So that’s how we got to 2 middles. I think it works especially well if at least one of the names is short & soft like [name_f]Ida[/name_f] (we say Ee-duh not Eye-duh).
You just write them onto the same line. When asked to provide the middle at the doctors, I just said “She has 2” and they said “Oh okay” and typed in both. They’re both on her Social Security [name_m]Card[/name_m], etc. It’s no big deal.
I used 2 middles because we had a lot of names we loved and a lot of names that had meanings and significance to us that we wanted to use. Example – [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] is the Greek goddess of springtime growth (baby was born beginning of [name_u]June[/name_u]) and her story speaks of growth, determination, resilience and strength. [name_f]Elysia[/name_f] is taken from the name of the place in Greek mythology where the souls of the blessed of the gods go when they die (Elysian Fields) and [name_f]Willow[/name_f] is a very resilient tree that has been used to represent immortality because when you cut the limb off a [name_f]Willow[/name_f] and drop it anywhere else, it will grow a whole new tree. All that is very important to us. [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] [name_f]Elysia[/name_f] [name_f]Willow[/name_f] sounds beautiful and it’s packed with meaning.
It makes it easier if the 2 middles are shortish too. And like has already been mentioned, it’s traditional in some families. A work buddy of mine did it because she let the dad pick the first name and used 2 middles to honor 2 different people in her family.
I posted a similar thread as I’m from Australia and this is quite new to me…
my post is more concerned with giving some kids two middle names, some one middle name, why and stuff like that 
My daughter has 2 middles and a double barrelled surname and I’ve never had a problem putting her names on any forms. Her sister will as well if I could ever decide.
We did it with my daughter as we moved to Finland a month before she was born and wanted to honour her birth country. I liked it so much that I want to do it with my new daughter even though she has a Finnish first name. I wish I had done it with my sons as well as it gives me a chance to use more names, but also to have a special family name that isn’t really known outside the family, like a secret.
My son has two middle names and our second son will as well. It’s not a tradition in either mine nor my husband’s family. The reason we did it is so we would have space to honor people without compromising our own style. My husband’s great grandfather was [name_m]Nicholas[/name_m] and my dad is [name_m]Arthur[/name_m]. His second middle name is [name_u]Ashby[/name_u] because we love it and we feel like it gives character to his name and makes it more his own, rather than just having him use other people’s names. On forms etc. we just put his first middle.
I gave my kids two middle names based on tradition! I have two, my siblings have two, and my mother has two. I’ve always found the idea that it’s ‘pretentious’ pretty dispiriting. Names are tied to traditions- be those familial or cultural. In my family, two middle names are what’s done.
That being said, I admit it’s also great fun for me, as someone who loves names! My sister finds the whole thing to be just a stress- she can barely find one name she likes enough to use!
As for the forms etc. I fill in both middle names for my kids, and when they’re older they can choose for themselves which to cut out (if any)
I chop and change which names I use- if there’s space on the form, I’ll list both. My passport lists both middle names, for instance, but my school register did not. Nightmare for the supply teacher, who had no idea which name to read out!
I think often kids with two middles have different meanings behind each- my kids have a family/meaningful name and then one we just love! I want them to take with them a meaning, or a quality, from the former and just enjoy the fun of the second.
I have two middle names and I live in Australia. In my family its quite a common thing. [name_m]Both[/name_m] my middle names are short [name_f]Emily[/name_f] [name_f]Faith[/name_f]; but they have special significance.[name_f]Faith[/name_f] was my great nanna’s church name and she passed away when I was about two. [name_f]Emily[/name_f] was a name my parents loved and little did they know it had connections in our family tree.
I intend to do the same thing when I have children. I’ve never had issues filling out forms or anything, the only thing I have had trouble with besides my initials spelling out J.E.F (Haha, it was a bit of a fluke on their part!) is that I couldn’t fit it on my senior jacket. But that was fine. I know people say that middle names are really used or referred to as well. In my case this isn’t true, my whole life I have been either referred to as “[name_f]Jessica[/name_f] [name_f]Emily[/name_f] [name_f]Faith[/name_f]” or as “[name_u]Jessie[/name_u]/[name_u]Jess[/name_u].” Actually growing up, if I didn’t want to share my name, I went by either [name_f]Faith[/name_f] or [name_f]Emily[/name_f] as well. On nameberry its often referred to as a British practice, whether that’s true or not I have no idea, but somehow I think the flow of names works nicer with three and a surname. 
The boys on my father’s side have two middles out of tradition, started three generations ago. The boys have a first name, a middle name that starts with D, and then [name_m]Dodge[/name_m] as a second middle. For example if I’d been a boy I’d have been [name_m]Patrick[/name_m] [name_m]David[/name_m] [name_m]Dodge[/name_m] _________. My dad generally writes [name_m]William[/name_m] D. Lastname rather than [name_m]William[/name_m] D.D. Lastname, but I suppose you could do either. I was a girl so I only have one middle name, so I don’t know much from experience, but I assume if you ran out of room on a form you could just write only the first middle, or the first middle and second middle initial.
I probably won’t continue the tradition with my children since I’m not close with that side of my family, so if my children have two middles it would either be purely to use more names, or with my maiden name as a second middle (if I choose to take my husband’s name, and if I take his name I’ll move my maiden name to a second middle). I know two children who have their mother’s maiden name as second middles - she goes by both surnames, they only go by their father’s/her married surname. I like the idea of passing my name down in a subtle way.
We went with three because I wanted to use my mother’s name in the middle and my husband felt it was too ‘difficult’/Irish to work as an alternate name if she felt [name_f]Agnes[/name_f] was too old fashioned so he wanted a more modern girlie name she could fall back on if she so chose. For her sister we did the same ie Irish first middle name and popular alternative middle name.
I think 2 middle names is overdoing it. [name_f]One[/name_f] middle is enough. When more than 1 middle name is added, a name becomes “clunky”, in my opinion.
I have always planned to give my children two middle names. [name_f]One[/name_f] will be a name that I have chosen because I love it and the second one will be family name to honor a relative. I’m not quite sure about filling it out on forms. I believe we can just put on the same line where the first middle is.
I figured most would be out of family tradition… I think 2 middles but I heard of kids having 4, 5 r 6 names & I feel like that’s just crazy or over kill. . Where would you use or ever need that many names! Lol but I love hearing your stories