We are thinking about using two middle for our third child if it’s a girl. [name_m]How[/name_m] common is this in the US? [name_m]How[/name_m] much of a pain is it on paperwork (birth certificate, etc)?
Thoughts for or against?
Thanks!
Personally I dislike two middles because it feels like a mouthful to say, and [name_f]IMO[/name_f] having two middles takes away a little bit of the beauty away rather than just having one stunning middle. I don’t think it’s that common in the US to have two middles, but I do know a few people with two middles.
I think most paperwork documents such as medicare only allow one middle name, but I’m by no means an expert in all that stuff.
I grew up with one middle name ([name_f]Canada[/name_f]) while a surprising majority of my friends had two, and I was always jealous. From a very young age I can remember always wanting to give my future babes 2 middles.
I think for a lot of people two middle names gives them a chance to use more than one honor names. Or even one honor name and one middle they just like. I know quite a few babies on my facebook feed that have been born in the last year or so with double middles. My SO has two middles and wants our baby to too, so obviously the paperwork thing couldn’t have been that much of a hassle for him.
I love two middles. It gives a chance to use more names that I love, and it gives me space to honor loved ones without giving up on ones I’m truly enamored of. Also, I often feel like I’m waiting for the last note of a song with one middle name… like it isn’t quite finished. Occasionally there is a first/middle combo that are perfect together, nothing else needed, but most of the time I feel like a second middle just really finishes things off. But perhaps, for me, that is because, unless necessary, I don’t use my last name. It’s an awkward Hungarian surname with a lot of hard consonants. Although I love my daddy and cherish his memory and therefore wouldn’t ever change my name, it isn’t attractive and I was teased for it a lot in school. So for me a second middle sounds more complete.
I have a middle name and double barrelled surname, but I’m thinking of changing it to first-2 middles-surname, as I used to consider it. Anyway, what I like about my name is that I have 1 middle that adds to the meaning of my first, and just sounds nice. But my second middle is a family name I share with my dad and grandad, and I’ll always have that, even if I get married and decide to change my name.
I’m not the biggest fan of family names specifically for my own kids, but I love the idea of using more names I love and that have meaning for me/future S/O. I haven’t had any major difficulties with a longer name, and middles rarely get mentioned, but still have that significance. It might be because I’m used to it, but I think my name flows a lot better with two middles rather than one.
I’m not sure how common 2 middles are in the US, but I love them and definitely think it’s worthwhile.
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I have two middle names. I hated it and dropped my second one when I was 18. I live in the US too and I will say that it wasn’t super common for me to meet other people with two middle names. However, the topic honestly didn’t come up in everyday conversations that often. The only time I was inconvenienced was when I filled out forms and documentation.
Everyone’s experience is different though, so I fully believe to go with what you love. My second middle name was a filler ([name_f]Marie[/name_f]), so my suggestion is to pick two meaningful names so your child grows up appreciating the value in their name rather than being annoyed by “fluff” like I was. Best of luck!
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I am neither for nor against them. I don’t think I would personally use two middle names but I don’t hate them by any means. I think if you’re trying to acknowledge family through middle names and you have several you’d like to use then that’s fine. Although, I don’t think we need to do a [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f] from friends and name them [name_f]Princess[/name_f] [name_f]Consuela[/name_f] [name_f]Banana[/name_f] Hammock or something hahaha.
I don’t understand the big deal with having 2 middle names or even more. Some people say that it’s too long, but how often do you use your middle names? I use mine once per year, not even. In my country having 2 middle names is common, and it’s not rare to find people with 3 or even 4. My children will have 3 or 4 MN on their birth certificate, but we will only use 2 or 3 when we call them outloud or when we have to fill up papers (unless they are important and official: passport, etc).
By the way, you don’t have to use all of your middle names on regular papers. If you feel like putting only one, that’s fine, even if you have two on your birth certificate. When they ask you for an initial, just put your first middle name’s initial. If they allow you only one MN on a paper, just put the first one. It’s not difficult 
Your kid will be completely fine with two MN, no worries!
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I think it’s great to have 2 middle names, if your child doesn’t like his first name he/she can use one of his/her middle names, you have more choices.
I won’t do 2 middle names for my own children. We do middle names after family members and cramming a bunch of names in there takes away from the significance in my opinion. Also I regularly call my children by their first and middle names, probably just as often as I call them by just their first. So 2 middle names would just be too much for me to say and I think one would get dropped anyways, so what’s the point?
That’s just for me personally though. I know several people with 2 middle names and it’s very little hassle. Most legal documents only want middle initial. So you use the first. I think if there’s a reason you can’t pick between two names (for example honoring 2 grandmothers and this is your last child) then why not?
I don’t see the point of two middle names. My preference is to pick a first name you like, and honor someone with the middle name. Generic middle names like [name_f]Marie[/name_f], [name_f]Ann[/name_f], [name_u]Lee[/name_u], are boring. And the trend for middle names like [name_f]Snow[/name_f], [name_u]Winter[/name_u], Honeysuckle, [name_u]Rain[/name_u], etc. sound silly.
Thanks for all the feedback.
The name is [name_f]Ingrid[/name_f] [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f].
[name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] is meaningful to me and lets us have an “A” middle like our two other girls.
[name_f]Rose[/name_f] is for my husband’s grandmother, so it’s important to him.
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I grew up with two middles, both honor names for my grandmothers. I never had/have a problem with it. Like said before, unless you want to go out of your way to recognize your second middle then it doesn’t come up on paperwork or anything like that, they only care about the first. They’re on my birth certificate but only one is in all my legal paperwork and documents, like my social security card.
I didn’t grow up around but one or two others who had two (or more) middles and I loved how melodic and finished and royal my name sounded and often brought up how much I loved my long name as an interesting conversation piece. Unless I brought it up middle names were hardly ever thought of and no one would know I had two unless I told them. It’s easy to drop the second and pretend it doesn’t exist if your kid decides they hate it.
I’ve never felt like it was a mouthful having a long name (though I’ve never been a fan of the shirt and sweet style) yet I’m sure sometimes parents might choose a less than flowing combo.
It’s more common in the US now to use two middles than it used to be so your kid likely won’t be that unique for it anymore. Most birth announcements around me (in the Midwest) seem to have two middles.
Two middles have been common in other countries already, in fact if I’m correct over in the UK it’s becoming trendier to use three now.
I’m planning on giving my kids three middles for a few different reasons, some of which are-
They have back up names in case they hate their first (and I feel that more parents using their guilty pleasure names in first spot use this reasoning to feel more confident, or if they’re not very confident they use the middles as a chance to still use that GP name)
I’ve got more room to compromise with my DH to where we both get to use a name we love that the other doesn’t want as a first.
There’s more room for honor names if we choose (I don’t think honoring multiple people at once devalues the fact you’re choosing to honor them)
(…am I too late?)
I think [name_f]Ingrid[/name_f] [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] is beautiful! If it works well with your surname, then go with it. I personally have a complicated relationship with 2 middle names… The only time I’ve seen it is when the name goes Firstname Middlename Mother’sMaidenName Surname (ex: [name_f]Lillian[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] Greenham [name_m]Smith[/name_m]). That said, I think that your picks work very well with each other.
We gave both our kids 2 middles, mostly because we believe that names have to do with the character of a person, so we wanted to express these positive things into their very identities. Also this way my husband’s & my wildly different naming styles were accommodated. Paperwork has thus far not been an issue. I think it’s pretty common, especially among certain communities, to have more names than the tradition Anglo-[name_m]Saxon[/name_m] first/middle/surname. I grew up loving to hear my dad’s best friend, who happened to be Mexican, recite all his names!
I have two middles and live in [name_f]Canada[/name_f]. It’s really fine and doesn’t interfere with paper work much. For the longest time as a child I didn’t know I had two as my second was rarely used, as my mom only used my first middle for paper work. As I got older and started doing my own stuff I added in both (or neither depending on what the forms were). Most often the only thing that happens are people ask what my middle name is and I reply with “I have two” and then they just want to know both.
As a funny aside however, recently my partner’s step-mom booked us flights to visit the family. She asked for my full name and DOB for the tickets. However, the airline squished my first three names together, leaving my last name separate. Due to some unforeseen circumstances we had to change the tickets to a different date, and my partner’s brother-in-law was put in charge of that. When the airline asked my first name his response was “I don’t even know how to begin to pronounce it” so when I arrived I had lots of questions on how I pronounce my name and I was a little dumbfounded (as I have met them before, and my partner always talks to them about me) until I realized they thought my first three names was just my first name.
So I grew up with two middle names- was never an issue at all, often people would only put the first one on things, but that wasn’t a problem. Then I got married. Because of the timing from when I graduated and got my nursing license, I had to keep my last name in my name but because of the “Name Equality Act of 2005” I could not put it in the middle. So, we ended up both changing our last names to mine plus his without a hyphen. So I had FIVE names. It took up two lines on my drivers license, and was a major hassle and confusion for everyone. We ended up legally changing our names a couple years later- I eliminated my two middle names and put my maiden name in the middle to simplify it. I never really liked either of my middle names ([name_u]Jordan[/name_u]- a name my parents just chose without much thought and [name_m]Fisher[/name_m]- my Mom’s last name) so I didn’t miss them.
After all that though I still named my first child with two middles. He has all the grandparents’ last names so he had to have four. My circumstances were unique so I hope he doesn’t have the same problem.
I was given one middle name but added one and then another as a child (you could do that kind of thing pre 9/11). I ended up keeping just one of them (my maternal grandmother’s name and thus what I am called alongside side my first name in [name_m]Cyprus[/name_m]). I don’t think I considered two middles for my first child (can’t really remember), for my second I was having trouble with my ex and could barely give child names I did… Then had children with someone against two middles… However, I did get one child two as we couldn’t agree- and I love them! In [name_f]Ireland[/name_f] this means the second middle goes not on name bit of passport but in ‘notes’ section which annoys me. (Might have to cash in and get him a British passport haha).
I love the idea of having two middle names. I have chosen what I will have when my partner and I come to the point where we want to become parents. I’d have a middle name that has a meaning for instance;
[name_f]Heidi[/name_f] [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f].
[name_f]Madeline[/name_f] is my grandmothers name, she is such an amazing woman and I always said I’d honour her name in my children but have included [name_f]Rose[/name_f] as it suits and falls perfectly well on the tongue. I also would have;
Celinè [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f].
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f] is my middle name and was my great gran’s name. I’d like to also honour her name which I know my mum would be very happy about and included [name_f]May[/name_f] as it just looks beautiful!!
I think it’s becoming more common to use two middles. One thing I like about 2 mn is it gives distinction. Something I’ve learned from researching family history is that there are too many people with the same name!!! Especially very common names like [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] or [name_m]William[/name_m], etc.
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