So, I keep getting very negative reactions when I propose 2 middle names for my children to my friends.
What do you all think about this? Are 2 middle names okay? Maybe only if they are both short? Or maybe if your last name is really short? What rules do you personally use regarding this subject?
(and if you’re curious, I keep going back and forth between Cytheria [name]Dwyn[/name] and Cytheria [name]Violet[/name] - so why not Cytheria [name]Dwyn[/name] [name]Violet[/name]?)
I think two middle names is okay, but a lot of people think it’s pretentious, especially if they’re from a family tradition of using only one middle name. I don’t think there re any hard and fast rules regarding name length. If the names all sound good together, that’s fine by me!
I love two middle names and I don’t consider there to be any rules regarding name length or anything - as long as you love the name and it sounds good to you. 
Well, we’re doing two middles because it’s tradition in my fiance’s family. Honestly, I think it’s a little tacky if you use two middle names when it’s not normal in your family, but we’ve got a lot of these unwritten rules in [name]England[/name]. Two middles have usually been in use in upper class families, and you’re not really supposed to try to sound better than you are. I don’t care about the flow that much (I’m weird, I know), I find the complete randomness of syllables charming.
I do really think Cytheria [name]Dwyn[/name] [name]Violet[/name] is very pretty (I always preferred the spelling [name]Cytherea[/name] though).
I plan to do two middles because I want to honour both sides of the family. My niece has two middle names and so does my mother. However I don’t give one fk if people think I’m tacky or pretentious for giving my kids two middle names when it hasn’t been done much in my family already. They can reserve their eye-rolling for people who name their kids Anal or [name]Adolf[/name]-Hitler.
I don’t think it really matters how name middle names you have. I was reading some of the Australian birth announcements and it’s a mixture of both 2 mn and 1 mn. I suppose generally people from wealthier backgrounds tend to use 2 or more mn’s.
I think two middle names is fine! I know a lot of people who have 2. My parents went a little over board with my siblings and I, we each have 3 middle names! I think as long as the names sound good together and you have one last name (we had two! That’s a whole lot of names!) it should be fine!
Yes. What’s wrong with 2?! I wouldn’t think any less of anyone for having 2 MNs. I don’t attach the 2 MN thing to a social class and I wouldn’t think it weird if someone’s the only child in the sibset/family with 2 MNs. Some parents just can’t choose between/like so many names, want to honour multiple people, want to avoid unfortunate initials or want better flow. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, it would start getting a little awkward when the names are too long and/or there’s a double-barrelled surname, e.g. [name]Alexander[/name] [name]John[/name] [name]Charles[/name] [name]Smith[/name] works fine for me. [name]Maximilian[/name] [name]Willoughby[/name] [name]Bartholomew[/name] [name]MacAllister[/name]-Buckingham, however, is a bit too much.
I’d have to know what names are in consideration to say whether they work or not. Cyntheria, [name]Dwyn[/name] and [name]Violet[/name] seem fine together. I don’t know the surname but Cyntheria [name]Violet[/name] [name]Dwyn[/name] sounds best to me 
We plan on using two middles, as there’s some history of that on both sides; and, more importantly, we’d really like to honour as many people as possible. Plus, I much prefer the ‘flow’ of it. I think any British class associations are fairly irrelevant, I’m strongly against the notion of anyone needing to know their place, I’d much rather everyone just do what they fancy doing; for us, that’s two middles.
I’d probably rethink that if we had a very long or double-barrelled surname, though. & for ease, we’ll probably only use one mn for everyday paperwork.
@ottilie, yeah I have no idea in the US. my best friend growing up had 2 middle names and I just thought her parents were weird, lol.
I know that [name]Cytherea[/name] is the more common transcription, but in my strange little mind Cytheria makes it easier to figure out how to pronounce, and I love the -ia ending. (also the quite-famous porn star spells her name with the -ea ending. Maybe that’s my true aversion, haha).
I have two middle names. For us it’s a family tradition but my cousin decided to go against it and give her son only one.
I think it should be up to you.
I think that’s for you and your partner to decide. The opinions of strangers shouldn’t matter.
I only have one middle name and my SO has three middle names. Depending on where we decide to settle down will most likely influence whether we give one middle name or two to our future children.
Yeah, exactly. However, how often do you know peoples middle names? And I don’t really care. Like C&P said, I wouldn’t think less of anyone for having two. I don’t think I explained myself very well yesterday… 
I actually googled it yesterday after I posted, and I found her. I am not very familiar with porn-stars I’m afraid, have some catching up to do!
Yeah, I was unaware of her until I googled the name the first time after coming across it in class (Hesiod, perhaps? I can’t recall). My friend [name]Anna[/name] wrote a song called ‘Cytheria’ so the combo of my fondness for her and the song, and the spelling of the porn star really make the spelling choice pretty clear for me.
Interesting fact: According to wikipedia, her real name is Cassieardolla [name]Elaine[/name] [name]Story[/name] (holy what?)
Awww, I love that! The song thing, so sweet. Connections like that are beautiful.
Maybe we should start hanging out with porn stars if they’re so awesomely named (I want to put Cassieardolla on my list!)! Or maybe (an even more terrifying thought) having awesome names make you want to be a porn star? Hmmm…
I feel pretty confident that most porn stars are probably extremely interesting people. Now I want to do some sort of elaborate research study on the correlation between unusual names and proclivities towards sex work, lol.
I think you should, cause then I don’t need to!! I agree with you actually, people who don’t care about what almost everyone in the world think of them with that level of self exposure has got to be fascinating.
Would be interesting to figure out (though you’d probably find that many sex workers originally had very different names and probably boring ones. lol).
I wanted to give my son 2 middle names, but when they brought me the forms in the hospital, there was only room for one. Derp. Anyway, I don’t think it’s tacky or strange to give your child 2 middles, and it seems to be increasingly common.
I used two, BUT the boys’ second middle is my surname (my husband and I have different surnames). So it’s: FIRST – MIDDLE – MY SURNAME AS SECOND MIDDLE – HUSBAND’S SURNAME
This seemed like a better option than hyphenating to me. I wouldn’t have done two middles otherwise, as it’s a bit much in my opinion.