# Do you have a middle name? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 11, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936 "2019-07-11T23:20:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/101 "2019-07-14T14:23:32Z")
My middle name is my Grandmother’s first name. She never used it because she hated it, and she spelt it differently to the way it is in my name. The name she actually used (her own middle) would have worked perfectly well and had more Scottish naming history behind it. Seems like an odd decision really. “I’m going to name my daughter after you!” “Oh, wonderful! I’m so glad to see the traditions upheld.” “No, not that name. I’m going to use the name you hate and then I’m going to spell it incorrectly.” “Okaaay…” ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/102 "2019-07-14T15:33:48Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > It’s not really a “Catholic” thing to not have a middle name at birth - there’s no shortage of Catholics with four names and there’s no requirement to add a name at Confirmation\*. What is kind of unusual in my experience is for a Catholic to actually use their Confirmation name/initial - in fact the only person I can think of who does is George R. R. Martin > For some reason, although my mother insists she has a two-word first name and no middle name, she gave all three daughter’s the first half of her name as a middle name and my brother got my father’s names. Better than being “Juniors” I guess. > > - Even in places where a Confirmation name is customary, choosing your Baptismal (which can be your first or middle name) name as a Confirmation name is acceptable - it’s not a requirement to add a new one. Might depend on which Catholic tradition I suppose? In the UK and Ireland (and most countries?) adding a middle name after the first year of birth requires a change of name via deed poll, so they’re almost always used informally. They don’t really count as middle names. And there are tons and tons of Irish women called Mary Claire, Mary Eve, etc (not many Mary Etcs though). They’re separate names, not like the Mary-Claire! you might have heard in the US South-West a generation or two ago. One of my schoolfriends had a mother (obvs) and three or four aunts, all named Mary, but only the last Mary was actually Mary. Kinda like how a lot of Muslim boys in the UK now are named Mohammed but generally go by their middle name. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/103 "2019-07-14T16:17:25Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Might depend on which Catholic tradition I suppose? > > . It could ( which is why I put “Catholic” in quotes) but it could also be that it was simply the custom of that poster’s in-laws. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/104 "2019-07-14T17:46:20Z")
My middle name is just my dad’s nickname somewhat anglicized: Jack (everyone calls him Jacek. The name Jacek actually translates to the male name Hyacinth, as in St. Hyacinth or Sw. Jacek in Polish. I definitely prefer that they went with Jack.) My brother also has a middle name, probably named after one of my dad’s friends, though I don’t know the source of it. We’re Catholic, and it was customary for every kid to get a middle name at birth at least in our tradition. Oh, I guess we also have confirmation names, but we’ve never used that in any sort of official capacity. I had to actually just think about what my confirmation name was, as nobody I know really seems to keep track of it except for confirmation. My kids have middle names that are the same and based on a family surname from a couple generations back. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/105 "2019-07-14T19:21:23Z")
> [@Time\_Like\_Tears](#): > > Strong tradition of both keeping traditional names in the family, and of naming kids what you intend to call them - even if it does cause kids the need to argue with authority figures. My mom used to have to shout down school administrators that her name was “CATHY, not Catherine, for the last time!” My grandmother had a brother James, always called “Jim”, so my father was named Jimmy so that his call name and actual name would be the same. My first name is made up of my parents middle names, and the one from my mother she got from her mother (both middle names) who got it from her mother (first name). My original middle name is the masculine spelling of a not so common (in the U.S.) French name. When I got married, I put my maiden name as a second middle name and took over my husband’s last name. I’m not a big fan of my maiden name but didn’t want to dump it. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/106 "2019-07-14T20:07:14Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I only skimmed the thread and did a search for “Catholic”, but obviously the German (I don’t know if it’s restricted to Germany, but I’m surprised that it didn’t come up yet in this thread) Catholic tradition by which I got my middle name wasn’t yet mentioned: my middle name is my godfather’s (who’s also my uncle) given name, as well as my sister’s middle name is her godmother’s (our aunt). This was custom at least in the sixties in Germany among Catholics. Thank God it wasn’t in Spain, we tend to have multi-word firstnames; the pileups could be pretty impressive. ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/107 "2019-07-16T03:43:41Z")
I’m the youngest of four and the only boy. I don’t have a middle name but I am a junior. My two oldest sisters don’t have middle names either. Strangely, the youngest of the three was supposed to have a middle name but my father screwed up on the birth certificate and combined first and middle name into one long first name. Think naming your kid Sarahlee when you meant it to be Sarah Lee. My wife’s situation is even worse. Not only does she not have a middle name, but her first name is normally a diminutive of a longer, more “formal” name. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/108 "2019-07-16T12:43:59Z")
I voted mother’s maiden name, but really it’s a shortened version of it. She’s told me she regrets not going for the full name. I’m the middle of three brothers. Ther other two have our father’s first name and middle name for their respective middle names. This arrangement has always struck me as prescient. They have the same hair and eye color, which I don’t. I look like my maternal grandfather. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/109 "2019-07-16T13:52:58Z")
The significance of my middle name is, it’s the name I go by. It’s not this unused piece of name that parents fill with odd stuff, which seems to be what this poll is getting at. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/110 "2019-07-16T14:14:39Z")
My brother was born first, and my mom wanted my dad to go ahead and choose a name that was meaningful to him. When I was born, my father insisted on returning the favor, and he left it completely up to my mother. She chose “Jasmine” simply because she loved the name, but she wanted to be playful and unique with a middle name, so she chose “Turquoise”. So, I am Jasmine Turquoise. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/111 "2019-07-16T15:16:01Z")
I have a middle name. My whole life I was never curious about _why_ my middle name is my middle name. Thanks to this thread I have been wondering, but, my parents are both gone and I guess I’ll never know. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/112 "2019-07-16T15:27:59Z")
> [@D.E.S.K.Top668](#): > > My wife’s situation is even worse. Not only does she not have a middle name, but her first name is normally a diminutive of a longer, more “formal” name. I get that, too - my first name is five letters and two syllables. People keep trying to make it longer than it is. It’s like if you named a kid “Beth”, just “Beth”, and people kept trying to call her “Elizabeth” and asking her what “Beth” is short for. It’s not short for anything, it is what it is. People are really weird about names sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/113 "2019-07-16T16:15:37Z")
My middle name is the first name of my Mom’s maid of honor at her wedding, she passed away before I was born. My son’s middle name is my Dad’s name which also happened to be my ex-husband’s middle name. I have a cousin who’s middle name is my Aunt’s maiden name. ---
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/114 "2019-07-16T18:44:23Z")
My middle name is McCarty, from a Fairfax, Virginia family that married into my grandmother’s back in the late 18th century. It’s been a popular middle name in my family ever since, including me and my nephew. Why that name caught on when there were so many other possibilities, I’m not sure. When I was a kid in the sixties, I lied and told my friends my middle name was McCartney, in the hope that they’d think I was related to a Beatle. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/115 "2019-07-16T18:46:56Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/116 "2019-07-16T23:46:09Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > i was thinking it was Vivian or Evelyn my self > [@MandaJo](#): > > Courtney is another one that abruptly went from a pretty uncommon boy’s name to a popular girls name all at once. As was Beverly. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936/117 "2019-07-17T00:08:15Z")
Unrelated given name but there’s a story behind it. My parents were convinced that I was going to be a boy and only had boy names picked out. They didn’t do ultrasounds to determine boy/girl back when I was born. So my parents were surprised when I was not a boy and had to scramble to come up with a name. I don’t know where they got my (fairly common for the time) first name from. I was born very early in the morning just as the sun was coming up so my middle name is Dawn. They were better prepared with my sister. Her middle name is the same as my dad’s mom and mom’s favorite aunt’s middle name and my sister later gave that same middle name to her oldest daughter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-a-middle-name/836936.md?page=5)