# Middle Names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 26, 1999, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543 "1999-09-26T03:27:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [September 26, 1999, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/1 "1999-09-26T03:27:00Z")
Before I tell you all what my unusual middle name is, I want to hear some of yours. Do you have an unusual middle name? An embarrassing one you rarely share? Have you heard of anyone else’s that are remarkable in any way? Curious. I like my middle name, but it’s a bugger of a length and weird to boot, so it often comes back spelt incorrectly on official documents. Hate that. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![White\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@White\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/2 "1999-09-26T03:46:00Z")
Sorry, mine’s just plain old Lynne. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisCTP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@ChrisCTP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisCTP)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/3 "1999-09-26T03:51:00Z")
Dawn * * * Veni, Vidi, Visa … I came, I saw, I bought. ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/4 "1999-09-26T03:53:00Z")
I don’t have one. We were very poor. I was lucky to get a first name. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/5 "1999-09-26T04:31:00Z")
Keith. Yay. * * * Yer pal, Satan ---
**Author:** ![Louie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Louie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Louie)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/6 "1999-09-26T04:41:00Z")
Sergio ---
**Author:** ![The\_LION](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@The\_LION](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_LION)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/7 "1999-09-26T04:44:00Z")
OK,I’ll play. But first understand that first person who calls me by it dies the death of a thousand cuts! Bruce Peace t lion ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/8 "1999-09-26T04:55:00Z")
Mine lends to the beautiful, poetic, fucking retarded, death to all who use it nickname of Timmy-Jimmy. My father deserves to die for bringing down this curse upon my immortal soul. –Tim * * * We are the children of the Eighties. We are not the first “lost generation” nor today’s lost generation; in fact, we think we know just where we stand - or are discovering it as we speak. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/9 "1999-09-26T05:38:00Z")
Dean. ## One of my brothers has no middle name and one just an initial. My oldest (half) brother was named after the guy his father met in the drunk tank the night he was born. So I guess I’m lucky. “non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem” – William of Ockham ---
**Author:** ![Momotaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Momotaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Momotaro)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/10 "1999-09-26T06:02:00Z")
I think that for people that speak Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian, etc.) there is no such thing as a middle name. However, they can have several first names. In my family the ‘Catholic’ tradition was three names: one for everyday use, ‘Joseph’ or ‘Marie’ for being Catholic, and the name of your godmother of godfather. When people ask me my middle name, I usually put my second and third first name together with a hyphen rather than explain I don’t really have such a thing as a middle name. I’m not 100% sure of my explanation, so I’d appreciate if someone else could confirm this tradition. * * * Only humans commit inhuman acts. ---
**Author:** ![Momotaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Momotaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Momotaro)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/11 "1999-09-26T06:04:00Z")
Duh. Please replace ‘that’ with ‘who’ in my first line. ---
**Author:** ![Louie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Louie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Louie)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/12 "1999-09-26T06:15:00Z")
Momotaro: All my relatives (Portuguese) are named like that. In the address book my parents have, the J section are full of Joe’s, Joesph’s, and João’s, and the M section are full of Mary’s, Marie’s, and Maria’s. And the middle name is the name they use more often than their first name because there’s just too many Joe’s and Mary’s. You don’t know how lucky I wasn’t named João. ---
**Author:** ![Zulu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a9adbd/32.png) [@Zulu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulu)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/13 "1999-09-26T06:36:00Z")
My full first name is supposed to be Jennifer-Lynn. No real middle name. People have never been able to grasp that concept. Lynn has just become a middle name, but my mother won’t let it go. She starts ranting when I’m having forms filled out and it’s put as my middle name. The same thing with my sister, Debora-Lee. Zu ---
**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:** [September 26, 1999, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/14 "1999-09-26T11:58:00Z")
Well, my middle name is **Te Ruahikihiki**. It’s Maori. It’s the name of a Maori Chief from long ago that somehow my Uncle got named after, and I was given it because he had it. Like I said, it gets misspelt, mispronounced, made fun of, and generally is a hassle to fit in the tiny boxes on forms. But it’s mine, it’s unique, and I’m happy to have it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Poto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Poto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poto)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/15 "1999-09-26T12:08:00Z")
We were looking at names for our kids and somehow Tani, a Hawaiian name, ended up on the list. Names longer than three syllables are useless. My middle name is on the TM pages.I use it as a pen name and as a board name on 2 other boards. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/16 "1999-09-26T12:28:00Z")
Christine. Before you start thinking “Hey, isn’t that a little redundant?” Cristi is a nickname from my middle name. I’m one of those that doesn’t use my first name. That was not my idea, nor was the goofy spelling of Cristi. It was my mom’s. I don’t know why she did it. When pressed, all she says is “it was the thing to do at the time.” There’s nothing unusual about my first name, though. It’s Laura. ---
**Author:** ![omniscientnot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a5b964/32.png) [@omniscientnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omniscientnot)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/17 "1999-09-26T12:39:00Z")
Actually, I kinda like my second and third “first names” or middle names (Momo: Why did you have to go and screw this up?!): Jean and Philippe – after my father and godfather respectively. Although I never use them, except on forms; don’t use any middle initial(s) either. ---
**Author:** ![omniscientnot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a5b964/32.png) [@omniscientnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omniscientnot)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/18 "1999-09-26T12:41:00Z")
Guano: You win the jackpot, hands down. No other contestant need apply. P.S.: Would you mind if I called you Te? ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/19 "1999-09-26T12:41:00Z")
I’m another called-by-the-middle-namer, so I guess I should answer with my first name: Jennifer I’m much happier as a Robin, though. ---
**Author:** ![Yankee\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7ea924/32.png) [@Yankee\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankee_Blue)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 1999, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543/20 "1999-09-26T13:39:00Z")
Kamaria (Kah-MAH-ria)unusual but I think its cool. Its meaning is tied up with the moon. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-names/8543.md?page=2)