# Maiden names as son's middle names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504 "2011-05-19T21:28:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/1 "2011-05-19T21:28:22Z")
Presidents Kennedy, FDR, and one of my cousins all have their mother’s maiden name as their middle name. How common is this practice, and when/why did it start? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/2 "2011-05-19T21:39:30Z")
I only have three words for you “Ed” Lillywhite Norton ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/3 "2011-05-19T21:45:05Z")
I don’t know when it started but I can give another example. In 1936 FDR’s opponent in the presidential election was the governor of Kansas, Alfred M. Landon. I went to a junior high named for him. The M stood for Mossman, his mother’s maiden name. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/4 "2011-05-19T21:52:40Z")
It’s not terribly common around here, but neither is it terribly uncommon. Dunno _when_ it started, but the _why_ seems pretty straightforward–it’s a way of preserving the woman’s family name. ETA: must be pretty damn old, though; in _Pride and Prejudice_ Mr. Darcy’s first name is Fitzwilliam, which was his mother’s maiden name. ---
**Author:** ![goldmund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a4c791/32.png) [@goldmund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldmund)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/5 "2011-05-19T21:52:43Z")
No idea how common it is, but came by to add Richard Milhous Nixon to the list. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/6 "2011-05-19T21:54:33Z")
My brother has my grandmother’s maiden name as his middle name. I have my mom’s. I personally dislike it and wish I had a different middle name, but I understand why it was done. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/7 "2011-05-19T21:58:34Z")
Among Presidents, add Lyndon Baines Johnson and Rutherford Birchard Hayes. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/8 "2011-05-19T22:14:47Z")
Seems to be a Presidential thing. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/9 "2011-05-19T22:30:57Z")
We did that with our son. My wife’s family is proud of their name, but and odd thing happened. In her father’s generation, every male had only daughters. Only the women had sons, and all of them were married. This meant that the family name was basically going to die out instantly, so we gave our son that as a middle name to help keep the name alive. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/10 "2011-05-19T22:50:46Z")
It’s really common in my family, and in other families in my town to which I am related by birth or marriage. Given that my background is white southern upper-middle-class, it seems to be mostly a snob thing (and yes, a lot of my family are snobs). I went to a family reunion a few years ago, and afterward made the joke that apparently, our family was given a limited number of names at the beginning and forbidden to use any others, given the number of people who were introducing themselves as Name1 Name 2 to people whose names were Name2 Name1. Think “Oh, hi, I am your distant cousin Jones Miller.” “Nice to meet you, I’m Miller Jones.” ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/11 "2011-05-19T23:00:47Z")
I gave my youngest son my maiden name as a middle name, mostly because I thought it sounded nice with his first name. Also, it is likely that my maiden name will be extinct (at least my grandfather’s line of it, anyway) after this generation. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/12 "2011-05-19T23:05:22Z")
It’s fairly common for boys and girls in the South, especially among the upper classes. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/13 "2011-05-19T23:47:14Z")
My brother and I have the misfortune of having my mother’s maiden name as our middle name. It’s, sadly, a name that can be a first name too, but it’s an old man name. Sort of the equivalent of “Eugene.” It’s relatively common amongst the Irish, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/14 "2011-05-19T23:50:45Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Seems to be a Presidential thing. It’s in my family, too. I guess we’re all presidential material. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/15 "2011-05-19T23:54:02Z")
My grandmother gave all 4 of her sons her maiden name as their middle name. Luckily it was ‘Dean’ so it was a fairly normal name. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/16 "2011-05-19T23:54:13Z")
I hadn’t seen this as a trend, but I used to work with two women who both gave their first born, a boy, their maiden names as first names. Patrick and Mitchell. I thought nothing of it at the time but when I learned they were the maiden names it seemed kind of cool. Of course, that only works if your maiden name is a decent first name. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/17 "2011-05-20T00:05:59Z")
My middle name is my mom’s last name. I wouldn’t call it her “maiden” name, though, because she never took my dad’s name when they got married. ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/18 "2011-05-20T00:54:45Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > My brother and I have the misfortune of having my mother’s maiden name as our middle name. It’s, sadly, a name that can be a first name too, but it’s an old man name. Sort of the equivalent of “Eugene.” > > It’s relatively common amongst the Irish, in my experience. Well, I’m Irish on my father’s side and I have my great-grandmother’s maiden name - as does my father and _his_ father. So there you have it - proof positive that somewhere between 3 and every Irishman who ever lived has his (or his dad’s or grandad’s) mother’s maiden name. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/19 "2011-05-20T01:02:25Z")
My middle name is my mother’s maiden name… I’m not President or anything, but I have a plan: I hear they’re looking for a new Prez next year. I supply the middle name, you guys all vote me in. Sound like a plan? For policy decisions, I’ll open a poll in IMHO and abide by the decisions of the Teeming Masses. What’s in it for me, you ask? Bribes. Sweet, sweet bribes. And hookers and blow, of course. Let’s do this thing. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504/20 "2011-05-20T01:45:16Z")
I’m reading through this thread, and all of a sudden it struck me that my dad’s middle name (which I share) was his mother’s middle name. My son has it also. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maiden-names-as-sons-middle-names/582504.md?page=2)