Is it my imagination or are a disproportionate number of people who go by the name of “Scott” actually using their middle names? Seems like many of the “Scotts” I know are of the F. Scott Fitzgerald type, so I was wondering if there is some tradition about using “Scott” as a middle name, rather than a first name.
I am acquainted with a fair number of Scotts, and can say that all the ones with whom I am on a first name basis have it as their first and not their middle name. I’ve seen them speak or write their full names, so I’m pretty certain of that.
This includes a Scot and a Westscott in addition to the usual Scotts.
Yes, I know the plural of anecdote is not data, but this is my experience.
Using the latest edition of the Biography and Genealogy Master Index, I find 11,348 entries for persons with the first or middle name of Scott. Of the first 100 of those entries, 58 use Scott as a middle name. Caveat: 4 of those 58 are women. Eliminating those, there is close a random distribution of “Scott” between first and middle names.
This is sort of a hijack, so let me apologize in advance.
I betcha that Ann(e) is the all-time American female middle name champ, or at least was while I was growing up in the 1970s through 1990s. I never met many women with Ann(e) as their first name, but zillions with it as their middle name. What’s with that?
In 1998, I went to a friend’s graduation from a medium sized college. 4200 students, IIRC. There were 9 Jennifer Anne’s graduating that year. Insane. We started betting when we noticed the trend. I think I won the over/under at 8.
I have a good friend named Scott, been calling him that for years. It’s the only thing I ever heard him called, or seen him write. I found out last night when the priest announced him and his wife as Mr and Mrs Howard Scott Last Name. Seriously I never new that. Even the priest called him Scott throughout the wedding. Turns out Howard is his dad’s name and as you can guess, he’s trying to distance himself from that as much as possible.
But do all these people go by the name “Scott”, if not it proves nothing.
Yeah, that’s the question. I do not a few “Scotts” who have that as their given name, but I know more “Scotts” who go by that name even though it’s their middle name. Maybe just a coincidence, but I’ve always wondered if there was some reason for that.
Elisabeth and Marie are up there, too, I’d bet.
One other thing, though. Do all names have the same frequency of occurance as given or middle names? Does John, for instance, occur more often as a first name than as a middle name?
When I was in university, women named “Jennifer” or some variation thereof represented something like one in every fourteen female students. It was astonishing.
Then there was my college pal who claimed once to have been in The Class of the Seven Lisas.
Heh! I was at a party last night, and someone came up to me and said “Have you seen Jen”? I just laughed and said: Which one-- there must be at least 10 here.
More anecdotal evidence, which I’m sorry to say is all I have. The ex-New & Improved Scott (who never subscribed) does, in fact, have Scott as his middle name, although it is what he goes by. His parents never planned to call him by his first name.
My only WAG is that it might have something to do with Scottish naming traditions.
Who are “these” people? The 100, the 58, or the 42?
My first name is ‘Scott’, and that’s the name I generally go by IRL. Oddly, I normally use my middle name online … So I guess I’m kind of backwards or something. 
My first name is Michael. Perfectly good first name. My parents never used it.
My middle name is Scott. That’s the name my parents called me by, and just about everyone else knows me as Scott.
I’ve always wondered whether or not it was because Michael was a hugely popular name in the early 1970s for boys.
Oh, god yes. A good 90% of the women I’ve met have Marie as a middle name. Okay, okay, maybe not 90%. Maybe closer to 70-80%. But seriously, I have noticed that Marie seems to be a very common middle name among women I know. And I don’t think I’ve met a single person with Marie as a first name.
My mom and my sister were both Marie-middle-name. And I had an Italian neighbor whose first name was Marie. I actually kinda like it. My neice’s middle name is Elisabeth.
Funny. My brother goes by his middle name - Scott.
His first name is a family tradition name and he hates it.