# Help me pick a new middle name. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898 "2012-05-14T16:17:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![QuercusMax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/8baadc/32.png) [@QuercusMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuercusMax)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/41 "2012-05-15T20:29:07Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What kind of personal quality would you best like to cultivate (or cultivate the perception of)? Do you want people to associate you in their minds as a helpful person? I mean how cool would it be if you could very accurately tell people “_‘Helpfulness’ is my Middle Name_”? > > Do you have an area of expertise you’re particularly proud of? For instance, knowledge about propane grills. People would say “_If you want to know anything about gas grills, just ask **It’s Not Rocket Surgery**. ‘Gas Grills’ is his middle name!_” You’d get invited to all the best barbecues this summer. > > Of course, the downside is that you’d probably get stuck with tending to the steaks, so be careful. My middle name actually is Grill. For real. I make this joke often. It usually works out, though, as I do enjoy grilling (and cooking in general). ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/42 "2012-05-15T20:40:54Z")
Well, if you want to be DISTINCTIVE, don’t have a middle name. My parents didn’t give me a middle name when I was born. My mother explained to me, “When you get married, your maiden name will be your middle name.” (talk about an incentive to get married!) People simply do NOT know how to function if you don’t have something to put in that space that says “Middle.” Daddy was in the Air Force, and the great military solution for a person with no middle name is to fill that blank on the form with “NMN.” Unless the form wants a middle initial, and then it’s “NMI.” Be an irritant. Forgo the middle name entirely. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/43 "2012-05-15T20:54:47Z")
I know you said no names like Voltron or Fido, but still… Voltron. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/44 "2012-05-15T20:57:33Z")
A good way to test out a middle name is to see how it sounds if you use only the first letter of your first name, as in F. Murray Abraham or C. Thomas Howell. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/45 "2012-05-15T21:10:49Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > We’d be remiss not to mention Barney Stinson’s suggestion: Wait For It (Waitforit?) As in John “Wait For It” Smith. I came to suggest “Waightfret”. But seriously, I can’t imagine choosing just based upon sounds. You are naming yourself; who do you want to honor? Who do you want to be reminded of every time you fill out a form or give your name for the rest of your life? Are you a passivist? Ghandi. or Mohandes Are you a College Football fan? Knute, or Gip Are you truly into horse racing? Kelso, or Fager, or Miesque Are you a soldier? Audie, (right, OK, Murphy then) or Leonides, or Gurkha Tell us who you admire, and what you like best, and maybe we can help you get creative. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/46 "2012-05-15T21:13:59Z")
I like “Wiggles” ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/47 "2012-05-15T21:21:35Z")
I would go for something that makes an acronym or a word eg. Stephen Oliver Simpson= S.O.S. Daniel Ivanovich Kampmann But you could not go wrong with **CECIL** ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/48 "2012-05-15T22:22:16Z")
Is there anyone you admire who you’d like to honour? Any person from your family, friends, past? Anyone from history (Mike Ghengis Khan Smith), music (John Vedder Jones), movies (Stephen Clooney Brown), science (Robert Hawking Taylor), literature (Brian Pratchett Hernandez)? Any place you have an attachment to such as birthplace, where you honeymooned, where you went on vacation as a child? A hobby perhaps - John Travolta’s son was named Jett because of his father’s passion for flying. Have you looked up a name site and searched for names by meaning, trying to match a name with an attribute too feel you possess? If you want to pick a name on how it sounds alone, it’s hard to suggest without knowing the first and surnames that will go alongside it. Baby name style books suggest mixing up the number of syllables in each name for a more pleasing effect. John Mike Smith (1, 1, 1) vs Jonathon Michael Smith (3, 2, 1). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/49 "2012-05-15T22:45:27Z")
Pardon me if these are repeats. I did speed read the other posts but didn’t take notes. Mother’s maiden name ought to work unless it’s a weak name. Others: Mycroft Sterling Belmont Miles Rayford Kyser ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/50 "2012-05-15T23:15:37Z")
You’d think **Capt Kirk** would have suggested “Tiberius.” ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/51 "2012-05-15T23:50:56Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > You’d think **Capt Kirk** would have suggested “Tiberius.” > ~VOW Thought about it, I did:D ---
**Author:** ![LaurenIpsum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@LaurenIpsum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LaurenIpsum)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/52 "2012-05-16T01:42:23Z")
Wendell? Bonus if your first name is Oliver - it worked for Holmes and Douglas. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/53 "2012-05-16T13:29:47Z")
You can have my middle name. Then there’ll be two people in the world with it. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/54 "2012-05-16T14:30:37Z")
How about Wesley? That’s a popular name from my family. Or Waitforit. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/55 "2012-05-18T03:46:02Z")
Hieronymus. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/56 "2012-05-18T12:35:19Z")
Serious answer? James. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/57 "2012-05-18T14:08:55Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Serious answer? James. I’m actually leaning towards this. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/58 "2012-05-20T21:56:12Z")
T-Bone ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/59 "2012-05-20T23:00:57Z")
If you don’t want to go with Thelonious, at least use Sphere. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898/60 "2012-05-20T23:01:23Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > How about “The?” Alfred The Great and Atilla The Hun swear by it. May I direct your attention to an earlier post. > [@Gagundathar](#): > > As an aside, I have been thinking about changing my middle name. It was my mother’s maiden name, but it is rather clumsy in English. Gagundathar The Inexplicable. Yes, the ‘The’ really jumps out at you, now doesn’t it? I am thinking about ‘An’ instead. What do you think? Given that, I think **James** might be his best choice. Somewhat odd. Nothing ordinary like Hypno or Gagundathar, but servicable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pick-a-new-middle-name/621898.md?page=4)