# Middle name question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2002, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-name-question/114630 "2002-06-18T02:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![insider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@insider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/insider)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-name-question/114630/1 "2002-06-18T02:06:30Z")
How common/uncommon is it in English speaking countries to name children without a middle name? I only know one individual who does not have a middle name and his parents were both from Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-name-question/114630/2 "2002-06-18T02:11:32Z")
My dad doesn’t have one. I know a few others who don’t. It’s not common, but not particularly odd. I’d figure the numbers are below 1%, but that’s a WAG. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-name-question/114630/3 "2002-06-18T02:29:18Z")
Harrison Ford doesn’t have one. He used the middle initial “J” just to differentiate himself from a previous actor named Harrison Ford, but it didn’t stand for anything. Then there are those like George Herbert Walker Bush who make up for those without middle names by taking two. ---
**Author:** ![d12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71c47a/32.png) [@d12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d12)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-name-question/114630/4 "2002-06-18T02:40:21Z")
I’ve got 2 myself. I’d guess the majority of English speaking (native english, not immigrants) have at least one middle name. ---
**Author:** ![PlanMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@PlanMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlanMan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-name-question/114630/5 "2002-06-18T02:51:06Z")
My brother-in-law did not have a middle name. On some ‘official forms’ they put NMN - meaning “no middle name” but prompting some idjits to ask what three names NMN stood for. I wish I could remember some of the witty responses he gave… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-name-question/114630/6 "2002-06-18T02:56:05Z")
In Russia, the custom is a patronymic, not a middle name. Your father’s name, combined with _ovna/evna_ for a female, or _ovich/evich_ for a male. ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-name-question/114630/7 "2002-06-18T04:18:32Z")
I don’t know the reason for it, but middle names were uncommon in the United States until after the Revolutionary War. At that time, it was often the mother’s madien name which was used. If someone has a middle name that sounds like a surname, it probably is from the mother or one of the person’s grandmothers. ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-name-question/114630/8 "2002-06-18T04:32:14Z")
My first name, though English, is hyphenated, as is common among the French. (My mother is French-Canadian.) No one refers to me by my hyphenated first name, but my “first” first name. My middle name is after my paternal grandfrather. My nephew’s middle name is after my paternal grandfandther’s middle name. (Also my brother’s middle name.) My third niece’s middle name is after my maternal grandmother’s first name. My sister went a different route, which is cool with me. If I ever have kids (ha!), our boy will be named Justin Peter [last name], and our girl will be named Saffron (Saffy) Lizabeth [last name]. A few tributes there. - s.e. ---
**Author:** ![Ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dbc845/32.png) [@Ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignorant)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2002, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-name-question/114630/9 "2002-06-18T07:04:56Z")
me and my 3 brothers dont have middle names. My mother doesnt, and my father does. Dad was born in Germany, his parents are Croatian. Mum is Aussie, so is her mum, but her dad is Croatian. Take that for what you will.