How many middles?

See the results of this poll: How many middles?

Respondents: 94 (This poll is closed)

  • 1 is enough : 31 (33%)
  • 2 is great but 3 is too much : 52 (55%)
  • 3 is fine: 11 (12%)

I think one or two is enough. After that you start to sound like a royal family wannabe.

I say if it flows nicely and you like it then why not. Most people aren’t even going to be aware that your child has that many middle names anyway. And on top of that it gives your child more names to choose to go by. In the end it’s your child and if you want three middle names then go for it. You just need to get your husband on board.

I feel like if it sounds nice, then why not. I also love names, and if I could come up with a great combo to include all of my favorites, then I would go with two or three! If you get your husband on board, I say go for it!

I’m all for two middle names–but three is a little much, imo. I get being a name nerd and loving names, but I agree that it can start to come off as pretentious. I grew up with a kid who has three middle names, and it was sort of cool to know someone who has so many mns, but I wouldn’t want that for myself. Two? Sure, I’d love to have two middle names. But three seems over the top.

When would you ever use those names, anyway? I mean, people rarely use one, much less two, so I guess that argument goes for any MN choice, but it especially hits me for more than two.

Good luck!

It is more common in [name_f]Canada[/name_f] (as in [name_m]Britain[/name_m]) for a person to have two middle names (my husband does, but I don’t). We didn’t go with two for our girls because my husband says it is just a pain in the neck. All forms just have space for one name, but then it can mess up credit and background checks if you don’t include all of them. Two feels like overkill to me, so three feels oppressive, but to each her own! :wink:

One or two for me, depending on the flow. Three or more is just too much.

I have two and so often one of them gets dropped off because the forms or licences will only register one name. Makes me feel sad :frowning:

I’d give 2 MNs, though I probably wouldn’t do 3. However, I wouldn’t tell anyone else that they shouldn’t.

I mean, I guess it’s been done before, but I personally wouldn’t go more than two. Any more seems pointless, I guess. This is my philosophy for naming (for myself): the first name place is for a name you both like, and if you choose to do two middles, you each can choose what you like. It may not “flow” always but that’s okay. There’s more to this theory than that but kinda going by that logic, any more than two middle names would be unnecessary (yes, I know not everyone would agree with my opinion). My soon-to-be mother-in-law literally just tossed a bunch of random names/words together for her youngest son, which resulted in him having like 7 names all together.. She essentially chose whatever she liked but now she doesn’t even know how many middles he has. He doesn’t even know them all. I personally know his real fn, the first two middles after that and then like the fourth middle, which he goes by to most people. The only person who knows his full name is his older sister. That birth certificate has to look like a mess and really, there was no point.

I voted for three is fine. I have two but I know plenty of people with three or more and no one thinks that it sounds pretentious, but it’s a cultural thing I guess. It’s really not just a royal thing everywhere.

I guess it might just be because of my background, but three middle names seems fine to me. I’ve known multiple people with three middle names AND double-barrelled surnames who haven’t found it made their lives difficult at all. I think if you were using four names which were all very long it might be a bit much, but if there are just lots of names you want to use I think it’s perfectly fine.

I like one or two… but I think it depends on the length of the names.

My sister has just two given names… but because they are all so long (including her last name!), all three never fit on official government forms. That drives her crazy. She wishes she dad the short form of one of her names :stuck_out_tongue: I have two long names but one shorter one so I am safe!

E.g. [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] [name_f]Katherine[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] [name_m]LONG[/name_m] LAST NAME is too long… [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] [name_f]Katherine[/name_f], [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], or [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] [name_f]Kate[/name_f] work better with a long last, IMHO.

I have never met anyone that has two middle names that is happy about it. They cannot fit their full names on applications, they cannot get things monogrammed properly, and the mail that comes to them is all confusing (like one using their first middle and one using their second and one thinking that their second is their last name). There are lots of hassles. To me, the flow is off when I hear combos with two middles. It’s like a little rhythm is interrupted, stuttered, etc. So, I would only stick to one middle name, and never three.

It’s completely a personal choice. I know people with four middle names, but I wouldn’t know if they hadn’t told me. It should be entirely between your husband and you.

I much prefer just one mn. They flow better with most surnames. Two middles usually sounds like two names eg. [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Michael[/name_u] [name_u]James[/name_u] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] sounds like [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Michael[/name_u] and [name_u]James[/name_u] [name_m]Smith[/name_m].

I think you can do whatever you want to do! Two names, three names… it won’t matter in the long run.

I voted on one or two, but I really think it depends on the length of the names in question. If it was something like [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] [name_f]Catarina[/name_f] [name_f]Melody[/name_f], I would say that three middles is too much. But if it was something like [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] [name_f]Betsan[/name_f] [name_f]Cate[/name_f] [name_f]Melody[/name_f], I wouldn’t think anything of it.

I myself have two names but I rarely use my second, and most don’t even use their middle/s. I think it is at the discretion of the parent, and if the child is opposed they can always change it when they get older.

I’m in agreement there. I can see the argument for multiples if you’re using the middle place(s) as honor names. Other than that, though, I don’t really see the point or necessity. It strikes me as another symptom of “My Child Must Be a Special Snowflake” syndrome. To each their own, but I wouldn’t go with more than one without a solid reason.

I say one or two middles. Save some of the names you like for the next child.

Usually I would say one is enough. It rarely gets used anyway so I dont see the point of a second. However sometimes there are exceptions. For example a family name being passed down, lets say [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]. So the name is FIRSTNAME MIDDLENAME [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] SURNAME. Otherwise I dont see the point.

I’ve not heard of anyone with more than two middles names. Three is far too many.
What about none? Dont forget some people dont even bother with a middle name. Maybe add that to the poll :stuck_out_tongue: