5/6 middle names!

[ChynaDoll2006]

Our baby will be of 6 cultural heritages and would like to honour them all in his/her name (+ honouring one more culture that is important to us).

Do you think it would be ridiculous to have 5/6 middle names? I was thinking I could try to use fewer names, with some having relevance in one or more cultures. But really none of the cultures overlap except Jamaican and English!

[notanumber]

Actually, I really do. Think it would be ridiculous, I mean.

Pick two at the most. There are other ways to keep your child's heritage alive than middle names (that no-one ever pays any attention to anyway) you know.

[CarGirl]

My dds struggle with remembering and spelling their 2 middle names tbh

[DinahRod]

This is your pg brain speaking!

[SusieCarmichael]

are you ok?

you don't have to honour every culture, if my family did this we would all have ridiculously long names!

[TiggyD]

The child will spend a great deal of their time filling in forms and ringing people up to explain they can't get all their names on one form and could they please have an extended form...etc.
1 middle name is adequate.
2 middle names is plenty.
3 middle names is excessive.
4 middle names is silly.
5+ middle names is unkind.

[HarderToKidnap]

My friend has 6+ middle names. It made a good party trick at Uni, reciting them all. In reality she just uses the first middle name and has dropped the rest completely. Pointless exercise to overload with midlle names to keep her heritage alive, really.

[HelenDoula]

Who cares ? do what you want !!! My girls have 2 middle names and mine & ex husband surnames.

[thisisyesterday]

hmm part of me says, it doesn't matter give as many names as you want.

but a (possibly larger) part of me says, don't do it! it will be a nightmare filling in forms etc PLUS, no-one ever uses middle names. would it really honour the culture if it's never even used??

i dunno

i could go with 2 or 3 middle names. but 5 or 6 just seems a bit much

[mathanxiety]

Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien. Are you going to have just one child? It might be a pity to saddle one child with the weight of the family's cultural heritage and then have nothing left for DC2. Why not see if there are names that overlap from the cultures and combine a few? What are the cultures in question? Any related languages?

[MaggieSilver]

It's hard to reject names and just pick a couple,but I think you have to just make a tough decision.

[yellowcircle]

I think that you should not do this. I personally have one middle name and my parents decided to spell it using an unusual spelling. That is embarassing enough TBH and I wonder what they were thinking.

I went to uni with someone who had 2 middle names, both of which were odd names. She was ridiculed for it during a speech that someone made to 150 people!

Another person I know has 2 strange middle names that don't fit on forms.

It is just really impractical and depending on what sort of person your child is, could be really embarassing. There are other ways to honour cultures that are important to you.

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

My grandma has 3 middle names plus a double-barrelled surname, so sounds like 4 - she is embarrassed by them, again good only for a memory test/reciting at parties. Please don't do it, I have 4 names in total (first and sur-) and that's MORE than enough I assure you. Your little DC will be a product of all these cultures anyway, even if you call her Jane, much more important to talk to him/her about the heritage when she is growing up.

[lovechoc]

poor kid can you imagine what it would be like for him/her having to fill out forms??

neither of us (DH or myself) have middle names so our DC do not have middle names either. We personally feel it's unneccesary. They only need a first name and a surname.

Honour the various cultures in a different way IMHO, otherwise your child will struggle with so many different names to remember!

[lovechoc]

and as someone has already pointed out, no one really pays attention to a middle name..

[MamaLazarou]

Yes, 5 middle names is too many. WAY too many. But then, as someone else has said upthread, no-one takes much notice of middle names, anyway.

I got carried away and gave my little boy 3 middle names. I was in a daze after a long, traumatic labour and no sleep for 2 nights. We found out he shared his birthday with someone famous, so we added that name to the two we'd already decided on. I feel really sorry for DS now, having so many names! But then he can just choose not to use them if he likes (I promise not to be offended).

[RibenaBerry]

Don't do it! Two is plenty.

Also, do you plan on having any more children? You do realise that you'll feel the need to have the same number of names for every child don't you? Can you think of six more names you like if you have a child of the same gender for DC two?

[MathsMadMummy]

my DS has 2 middle names and a double-barrel surname. everyone always says how fab it is. sounds really posh

do what you want! but be aware some of them may be largely ignored.

[zozzle]

I think two middle names is the max really otherwise it just gets stupid.

[thisxgirl]

I have five names in total - first name (3 syllables), three middle names (4 syllables, 3 syllables and 3 syllables) and a one syllable surname. So it's a long, tongue-twister of a name - maybe not as much so as your suggestion though.

I usually just use my forename and first middle name, alongside my surname obviously. It's too hard to fit the full version on forms and I wouldn't even want to imagine providing all the names over the phone to somebody. It's just far too much unnecessary hassle. An unusual name can make you self-conscious as a young adult, especially at school.

Having a long name has always been a talking point, something I have joked about, but I have never met one person that didn't think that it was a bit ridiculous, frankly.

[nooka]

I have two middle names and it is enough of a hassle. Not particularly because of fitting it on forms, although that has occasionally been a problem (my first and second name are both three syllable, but because very frequently there is an initial box instead of asking you for your middle names, and I really hate seeing my name with just one initial - it really doesn't feel like my name at all.

So my children just have the one middle name each. One of the problems is that unless you use a deed poll all the names are your name, and you can't officially drop them. My poor sister had to have her truly awful second middle name read out when she got married for example, even though she totally dropped it many years ago.

[MumNWLondon]

stick with 2. try and choose names perhaps that have different meanings in different cultures.

[ChynaDoll2006]

The cultures are

Scottish
Welsh
Jamaican
Chinese
St Lucian
West African (probably would use Ghanaian)
Swahili

and one of those would be the first name

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

What do you think of the responses that have been given so far? Obviously you can do what you want, but it'll be your DC who has to trot it out all the time. Would you be upset if s/he dropped them later in life?

[Journey]

Two middle names max. I think having any more dilutes the significance of why the names were chosen.

[lovechoc]

having no middle names is even better - less writing to do on official forms. I was kind to DS and just gave him a first name and surname!lol

I've never had a middle name and you can't miss what you've never had - I've not felt hard done by in life, and tbh when I see these kind of threads it makes me shudder - why complicate life.