I imagine with families having fewer children than in the past, on average, and with more people on the planet to distinguish yourself from, that a lot of parents will decide to give their child(ren) more names…perhaps.
In the US, I know it’s typical that we have a first, middle, and last name. My [name_m]German[/name_m] fiance has two mns and that seems rather common there.
So, how much is too much? Does it depend on how long your last name is, or if you choose to hyphenate your child’s last name, for example? Are syllables a consideration, e.g., is [name_f]Arabella[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] Worthingtonshireham really longer or shorter than [name_f]Ann[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_u]Lou[/name_u] [name_m]Smith[/name_m]?
I find that it is fairly uncommon in the U.S. to have more than one middle name, and I’ve often thought to myself that more than that is a bit pretentious. But, now that I am having a little one of my own, and the middle name slot is important for us to give our kid a connection to family/important people in our lives, the more I see the benefits of more that one middle. That way, you can pull a family name from both sides of the family and still use a “just because we love it” name for the first. That being said, the only way I’d actually do that is if I wanted to use the first two names as a double name. The middle name we want to use is [name_f]Katherine[/name_f]. [name_f]One[/name_f] of the names that we both are attract to is double names. We both grew up in the South, and I grew up Catholic, where there were a lot of double names going around. We really like double names that end in [name_f]May[/name_f] or [name_u]Lou[/name_u] (i.e. [name_f]Adah[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f] or [name_f]Evie[/name_f] [name_u]Lou[/name_u]), but we still want to use [name_f]Katherine[/name_f] to honor my mom. So we’re considering [name_f]Adah[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f] [name_f]Katherine[/name_f] or [name_f]Eve[/name_f] [name_f]Louise[/name_f] [name_f]Katherine[/name_f].
Having two middle names myself, I really like longer names (as in, more names, not necessarily more syllables). There are so many beautiful names, and so many people, places, and memories I would want to honour when naming my children, that I strongly doubt I could just give only one middle name. I would probably go with two, because any more than that and it would be a little awkward for official forms, records, etc., and difficult for the child to remember. [name_m]Just[/name_m] my personal opinion.
I prefer simplicity in naming (as in other things as well) so I would rather go with a shorter unique name than a longer common name. For example, I much prefer [name_u]Eden[/name_u] [name_f]Paige[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] to [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] [name_u]Piper[/name_u] [name_f]Juliette[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m].
However, I don’t think there is really a right answer here. [name_f]One[/name_f] should remember though that most forms only have room for one middle name/middle initial so I expect the first middle name is the one that will be used
I see nothing wrong with two middle names…anything more than that, however, seems excessive to me. [name_m]Just[/name_m] my personal preference, however.
I wanted to add more for [name_u]Finn[/name_u] but I didn’t want it to sound awkward I [name_f]LOVE[/name_f] their names but it is 1 of the hardest parts. Their middle names are sentimental to us and represent Family that we love and have lost. Xoxo
Two middle names! My name is [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] [name_f]Nicole[/name_f]… [name_f]Do[/name_f] you know how many [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] [name_f]Nicole[/name_f]'s there are?? I gave my daughters two middle names… Avila [name_f]Ireland[/name_f]-[name_f]Nicole[/name_f] (Avila because I loved it and for the baseball player, [name_f]Ireland[/name_f] her dad picked because he’s Irish, and [name_f]Nicole[/name_f] for me) and [name_f]Iris[/name_f] [name_u]Taylor[/name_u]-[name_f]Louise[/name_f] ([name_f]Iris[/name_f] because I loved it/it goes nicely with Avila, [name_u]Taylor[/name_u] because it’s sentimental to me, [name_f]Louise[/name_f] for my grandma and mom). Last baby we have will have two middle names too. Husband thinks anything more than two is overkill (then again he thinks two are a bit much but that’s because “his mom didn’t do that” rolls eyes)
There are so many beautiful names out there, why stick with just a first and a single middle? I figure the more the merrier!
10? Sure, why not? That child has so many options that surely he could find one of his middles that fits his personality!
I don’t see anything wrong with two middles, in fact I intend on using two myself. Three might be a bit much unless there is a very good reason or you are royalty, and I think any more than that is definitely overdoing it.
I like two middle names, I think that’s what I’d use, but I’m not against people using more if they so wish.
A girl I was at school with had four, because she was the youngest child of four, and the only daughter. Her parents had gotten to “share” the male names in the family they wanted to use, among their three sons, but as she was their last child and only daughter, they had four female family names they wanted to use in the middle to honor. So they used them all, and why not, if it was honoring family?
I like the idea of more than one middle, because its a great place to honor family members. However, we have a tendency in my family to use middle names rather often, in lots of different scenarios. I here
“[name_f]Julia[/name_f] _____!” When I’m in trouble, and also just when they feel like saying it like “what do you want to drink [name_f]Julia[/name_f] ___?” A double/triple etc middle is hard in that situation because saying (for example) “what do you want to eat,[name_f]Clara[/name_f] [name_f]Lily[/name_f]?” Is quite a bit less pf a tounge twister than “What do you want to eat, [name_f]Clara[/name_f] [name_f]Annabel[/name_f] [name_f]Stella[/name_f] [name_f]Lily[/name_f]?” ( all family names).
I think one is plenty. I do actually use my daughter’s middle name from time-to-time (I call her [name_f]Maura[/name_f] [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] or [name_f]Maura[/name_f] [name_f]Lu[/name_f]-Who a lot, actually) but in the grand scheme of things, they’re hardly ever known or used. A second middle would be used even less because official forms usually only have room for one middle name or initial, and really how would you ever work a big name like that into a nickname, or even yell the whole thing out when your kid’s in trouble? It seems superfluous to me, but of course others are welcome to do what they like.
I’m not currently planning to use multiple middles for my kids, but I think it’s whatever floats your boat. The first middle, and often just the initial, is the only one used on most forms, so it’s not like it’ll inconvenience you, your kid, or anyone else.
I could see multiple middles being useful in different situations. Like the OP mentioned, maybe you’re only having a couple of kids, but you have a lot of people you want to honor. If you throw them all in the middle, even if the first one is the only one used, the birth announcement uses them all, so everyone is happy. If you want to name [name_m]Junior[/name_m] after his dad, you could get away with a second middle just to differentiate them officially, without getting people all up in arms over the fact that the names aren’t exactly identical. If your last name is cumbersome or just odd, a double middle could be handy if you want the extra oomph of hollering three names without having to use the surname. And maybe two of the names you like are super popular or super unusual, and an extra middle could be handy if [name_f]Emma[/name_f] [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] decides she’s tired of always sharing both names with a classmate, or if [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] [name_f]Ingrid[/name_f] would like to use a name that’s a little more palatable to a fourth-grade audience.
I figure use as many names as you want, it is your child after all and no one is really going to see the middles. Personally I would only use two, both honouring each side of the family.
Honestly, it’s up to the parents. I have a friend with 10 middle names and she’s never had any trouble - on her exam slips at school they just used her first middle name. She said she loves having so many middle names, especially because they’re all family names.
Personally, two is my limit, but if you want to use three, four, even five or more, I don’t care.
