[name_f]Do[/name_f] you think of certain names as “middle names” or “first names”?
When I was talking to my FIL yesterday about our new baby’s name he said “Lux is usually a first name, right? What made you choose it as a middle?” (Not in a rude way, he was just curious) But I thought it was interesting that he thought of it as a “first name” and was surprised to see a “first name” used as a middle instead. So it just got me thinking about how people categorize names. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you also think of some names as “middle” or “first” names, or do you consider any name to be typical for either slot? If you do I’d also love to hear some examples from people.
I definitely do!
[name_m]Apollo[/name_m], [name_f]Primrose[/name_f], [name_f]Jane[/name_f], [name_u]Celeste[/name_u] and [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] are, for me, constricted to the middle name category. I cannot use them in the first name spot whatsoever (but I do love it when others use them!).
I can’t think of any names that I categorise as first names only, but I am sure there are a few. All my other names are interchangeable.
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A lot of names typically used in the middle name spot feel like middle names to me, e.g. [name_f]Ann[/name_f], [name_u]Lee[/name_u], [name_u]Rae[/name_u], [name_f]Joy[/name_f], [name_u]June[/name_u]. A lot of word and nature names, too, especially here on Nameberry: [name_u]Moon[/name_u], [name_u]Dove[/name_u], [name_u]Wilde[/name_u].
So while these names are typical middle names irl or on Nameberry, they are of course still perfectly imaginable as first names. [name_m]Vice[/name_m] versa, I’d agree that no names really feel like “first names only” to me unless you’d count one-person names like [name_f]Beyoncé[/name_f], [name_f]Zendaya[/name_f] etc.
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100% yes!
I only view [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_u]Lynn[/name_u], [name_f]Joy[/name_f], [name_f]Jane[/name_f], [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_u]Kai[/name_u], [name_u]John[/name_u], [name_u]Rae[/name_u], [name_u]Rayne[/name_u], and [name_u]Marie[/name_u] as middle names! I could NEVER even imagine using those as first names (other than maybe [name_u]Kai[/name_u] or [name_u]Rayne[/name_u], but not even then)
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I think there are definitely some that these days feel like their more often in the middle slot - especially for girls (I’m thinking about [name_f]Mae[/name_f], [name_f]Faye[/name_f], [name_u]Rae[/name_u], [name_f]Rose[/name_f], Marie), but on a more personal level, there are some names that are firsts and some that are middles in my head. [name_f]Matilda[/name_f], [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f], [name_u]Winter[/name_u], [name_f]Adele[/name_f], [name_u]Pax[/name_u], [name_u]Hero[/name_u], [name_u]Snow[/name_u], [name_u]Jude[/name_u], [name_u]Wilder[/name_u] are more ‘middles’ for me 
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It’s not that I particularly think of every name as a middle or first name, but there are ones that surprise me when used for the opposite as what they normally are. For example, Marie, Anne, Lynn, etc, being used as first names.
I do, however, see lots of names on my own list as only being first names or middle names. Sometimes it’s because the name is a bit too unusual for me to feel comfortable using it in the first spot, names like Bloom, Clover, Lilac, Happy, and Solstice fall under this category. Sometimes it’s because I like the name too much to ever only put it in the middle spot, Theodore is the best example of this for me. Other times it’s because I really love the name, but can never picture calling my child it 24/7, Walter and Fox are the best examples of this.
So, I suppose I do actually see some names as only first names or middle names, but it’s not a very common thing among names other people use, mostly just with names on my list!
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Yes! I think it would be odd to see [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] as a middle name. And [name_m]Ambrose[/name_m] for a boy has totally middle name vibes!
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I tend to think of [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], [name_f]Jane[/name_f], [name_f]Mae[/name_f], [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Elise[/name_f], etc. as middle names, not because I necessarily think they work better that way, but because that’s pretty much the only context I hear them in. Because of this, I actually kind of like to hear this sort of thing used as a first name because even though many of them are thought of as “boring”, I actually feel like it’s fairly unique to see them used nowadays. Though not every common middle name falls into this category, for example [name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_u]Anne[/name_u], and [name_u]Marie[/name_u] still feel like first names to me since they’re pretty common in general. Also, I tend to see kind of out-there word names and surname names in the middle spot more often than as firsts, so maybe those too. I generally think of names that are longer and/or more uncommon as first names, and typically feel a bit surprised to see them used as middles, but it’s usually in a pleasant way, and I can’t think of any names I think should absolutely not be used as a middle.
Now that I think about it though I only feel this way about girls’ names, with boys’ names I feel like most of the stereotypical “filler” middles like [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_m]Paul[/name_m], [name_u]John[/name_u], etc. are still used very frequently as first names, so I don’t think of them as middle names. Though what I said about unusual word names and long, uncommon names is still the same for boys.
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