# How come "Cardinal" is used as a middle name?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-cardinal-is-used-as-a-middle-name/19471>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 14, 2000, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-cardinal-is-used-as-a-middle-name/19471 "2000-05-14T01:28:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Racer\_Named\_Fisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@Racer\_Named\_Fisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Racer_Named_Fisk)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2000, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-cardinal-is-used-as-a-middle-name/19471/1 "2000-05-14T01:28:05Z")

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As in John Cardinal O’Connor?

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**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2000, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-cardinal-is-used-as-a-middle-name/19471/2 "2000-05-14T01:36:28Z")

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[Cardinal as a middle name](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=24247)

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**Author:** ![Racer\_Named\_Fisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecc23a/32.png) [@Racer\_Named\_Fisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Racer_Named_Fisk)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2000, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-cardinal-is-used-as-a-middle-name/19471/3 "2000-05-14T02:47:11Z")

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Yeah – I read that earlier thread… it’s kinda unsatisfying. No real answers, just a few bits of speculation.