Why bother with a middle name?

My DD has 2 middle names because I had a sudden death in the family the week before I gave birth, not because I'm indecisive!

Oops last work place

When I married DH I went from an unusual surname to a common welsh one (think along the lines of Jones, Williams, ect)
DH also has a common first name so was one of 3 in the class with the same first and surname (he was one of SEVEN in his last place!) So his middle name comes in really handy!
Luckily DD has a middle name to as her first name was unusual when she was born but has since become really popular so I have a feeling she'll be BabyDimples Middlename in school aswell!

It's just a nice thing to have, why not?

Also - it gives your child the option of using another name they prefer if they happen to really not like the choice you made for them! I know lots of people who have gone for a trad first name and a more unusual middle name (or the other way around) - with the unusual name being something they love but are a bit apprehensive about 'saddling' a child with. So - if baby turns out to be a traditional person, they have a name they gravitate towards - if they are a bit more 'out there' - they may end up using their Zebedee or Demelza :)

Another one here with no middle name - it has never bothered me in the slightest. In fact, when filling in official forms or landing cards, I am alwasy the fastest .

I don't have a middle name and neither does DD. I think they should have meaning and we couldn't think of anything obvious.

I don't have a middle name and am very happy with that.

"I have known people who seemed sad about having no middle name, as though they had concluded that their parents simply couldn't be asked."

Despite not having a single middle name, my parents chose a beautiful first name for me and, more importantly, have been the best parents possible . I honestly never, ever felt I was missing anything!

Because everyone thinks your hiding an one!
my BF had a long first name and a long surname and her parents decide that was enough to learn. But everyone expected her to have a middle name and they took a lot of convincing she really didn't.
DHs second middle name is terribly old fashioned and he has been know to loose it

I am so pleased my two girls have middle names. It makes it so much easier for me to tell them off, they know they are in BIG trouble when I have to resort to calling them by their first and middle names, it means they have done something bad. When I have to say first, middle and surname, they can uaually expect to be grounded

I have known people who seemed sad about having no middle name, as though they had concluded that their parents simply couldn't be asked. It becomes a comparison thing at school and if you're the kid who has nothing to share...
If you do not do it for one of your children I think that you must not do it for any of them.

My children both have a middle name. In fact DS has two!
The reason DS has two - he wasn't supposed to make it, and I wasn't going to have regrets so I was going to call him whatever I wanted! He is now 12

I have an unusual first and middle names, dp are about to get married. I could put bets that after we get married there will not be any one else in the world who have my name combination. (His surname is that unusual!)

My boys have two middle names. I think I was overcompensating for not having one myself. I hated not having a middle name growing up.

I don't have one, neither does my sister or my mum. Only prob was that we all have first names starting with the same letter so post can be tricky. My DS has my husbands middle name, which was also DHs fathers. Nice tradition.

All my sons have two middle names, coz we're posh innit.

btw her middle name wasn't after a family member, in fact i found her first and middle name on a gravestone! (the person did live to 91 and died in the late 1800's so i actually consider that quite lucky)

my daughter just has one middle name. as we chose quite an old-fashioned name for her first name it gave us an opportunity to use a more popular name in the middle that she can use in case she doesn't appreciate our creativty!
to me just a first and last name doesn't sound complete, although more than one middle name is a bit much imo (no offence anyone!)

My boys middle names are after family members

Middle names come in handy when you come from a religious or cultural background that you want represented in your child's name, but are duly concerned that giving an obviously religious/cultural name would lead to discrimination against your child or cause a generational wedge. This also causes some people to have a legal name and their religious name and use them separately to avoid this issue. Also true if you like names or have family names that other people in your area find hard to say or your family threatens to turn a name into a horrible nickname if you put it first (My family does this shudders).

Two middle names comes in handy when you have parents from two very different cultures, or you want to include a religious/cultural name and a family name, but the two aren't the same (particularly true for converts). Also, some families and cultures have the tradition of two middle names as well as many have the tradition of including the mother's maiden name as a middle name in either the eldest's/eldest son's/all the children names so you have a middle name you pick and one passed down. Or you're an eccentric like J. R. R. Tolkien who gave his second middle name to all of his children (Reuel is a lovely name, but I'm not sure it suits a girl). Also, some people just prefer longer names either for their appearance or they feel more cathartic to shout . My grandmother used to add all sorts of middle names to her children when she was cross.

I don't have a middle name and have never, ever missed not having one . I feel happy and confident with my first and last name!

We did give your children middle names (as dh wanted to), but to be honest they never, ever get used (only when filling out forms etc).

Overall, I don't really see a need for middle names.

I didn't have a middle name, my brother had a family one.

I really hated not having a middle name and used to make up one and pretend it was my middle name when I was little. Lisa was a favourite I seem to remember.

DD has a middle name and so will dc2 (maybe even two if it's a boy!)

Sometimes it's about heritage. My partner and I are both mixed-race and were given one name from our Asian family, one name more European. Our children, similarly, have two names from different traditions.

Having said that, I loathed my middle name, didn't feel it was 'me' at all, and ditched it decades ago

I don't have a middle name and I like it that way. When I went on school trips abroad I couldn't be teased for having an 'unusual' middle name (discovered by looking at each other's passports). In fact, everyone with middle names got teased whether unusual or not - nothing serious just something to do with middle names being a bit 'secret' and therefore something to be uncovered.

I like the simplicity of being who I appear to be, no hidden secrets.

My mum, brother and son also have no middle names.

I think it adds a bit of individuality to a name and a 'full name' does seem a little lacking without one - but it's not a big deal. Lots of people have more than one middle name for a variety of reasons - very rarely indecision! :)