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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Unusual middle names

58 replies

GinUpGirl · 03/07/2015 21:28

I'm so bored with May/e, Rose, Grace etc. I have a middle name like this (but of my time) and it feels dull as dishwater.

So, I'm viewing a middle name as an opportunity to use the names that I'm not brave enough to use as first names. So far my list consists of:

Aldous
Amos
Atticus
Errol
Ford
Paris
Rocco
Rollo
Valentine
(DH is legitimately desperate to add Danger in there too!)

Coral
Hero
Opal
Rio
Scout
Venus

Faves from my list?
Do you have any out there/brave names you like that I could get away with as a mn?

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CordeliaFrost · 05/07/2015 10:04

I like to see different names in the middle, not necessarily out there names, but something that isn't a filler.

My newborn daughter's middle name is Tzeitel (szigh-tul), which is a Yiddish derivative of Sarah, and was the name of my grandmother's mother (a Shoah victim). We were going to use Sarah, but then I thought 'no, if we're going to honour her, we'll use her real name,' and we have.

It has raised a few eyebrows though!

RabidFairy · 05/07/2015 08:31

We all have middle names that begin with J in my family so many names get shared, which is nice. We honoured this with DC1 but also added a second middle name which began with L. By coincidence we chose another L name for DC2 along with the J. We chose a previously unused J name though, opting for Joss (ala Joss Whedon). Then when DC3 unexpectedly came along we decided we needed to stick with J and L again, going with a traditional J name, then Luna for her second middle name.

StellaAlpina · 04/07/2015 22:57

I like -
Aurelia
Hermione
Astrid
Allegra
Luna
Serafina
Dagmar
Hildegard

Sebastian
Francis
Hugh
Friedrich
Ulrich
Aleksander

MrsDeVere · 04/07/2015 22:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Esmesgirls · 04/07/2015 21:29

My DDs names are all quite unusual- Fenella Astrid, Ingrid Eleanor and Jacoba Kerstin! I think it's lovely to add an unusual middle name, and adore most of your suggestions, especially Atticus for a boy!

susurration · 04/07/2015 20:05

I like Atticus and Hero. In fact I'd be tempted to use them as first names I like them so much!

Sansfards · 04/07/2015 18:28

I'd rather no middle name than a dull one but I did this with my first & once born wished I'd been brave enough to just have it as their first name. It wasn't atotallybonkers name but not everyone's cup of tea. Go for whatever takes your fancy

CakeRattleandRoll · 04/07/2015 18:18

Love Aldous and Atticus for boy. Could you get further inspiration from fictional or historical characters?

Nelson
Prospero
Isambard
Omar
Silas
Phinaes
Chaucer
Amadeus
Odysseus
Ulysses

Or maybe:
Orson
Fox
Banjo
Dashiell
Boris
Jethro
Linus
Aloysius
Casimir
Zebedee

reuset · 04/07/2015 16:03

The middle is a good place to use such names (your child can easily hide them too Grin)

I know a young Opal and it's a great name for her, nobody raises an eyebrow. I'd use this as a first. I like Aldous from your boys list, though didn't care so much for the other names.

Iliveinalighthousewith2friendl · 04/07/2015 15:52

Why waste using an unusual name as a MN which lets face it hardly gets used anywAy. Why not use an unusual name as a first name.

xalyssx · 04/07/2015 15:23

My kids' middle names are Leslie, Octavian and Angeles.

fanjodisfunction · 04/07/2015 15:08

went to school with a guy whose middle name was blue, thought that was pretty cool. I have one of those middle names that everyone has at my age beginning with a j. but I have another middle name that I got stick for then but people think it's cool now. olive.

I'm going to use the middle name of Teija for my next if its a girl, its the name of the lady who married my dh and me, its Finnish, we were married in Finland.

think all your choices are seriously cool.

Zakken · 04/07/2015 15:00

Good for you, GinUpGirl! A plague on their Mays, Graces and Roses!

In a distant branch of my family tree there is someone called Evangeline Emmeline Eugenie. Smile
Her daughter was named Dulcibella Eugenie.

Some more unusual names in there are Etheldra, Daucha and Darnigo.

Chip86 · 04/07/2015 14:39

New a boy who had the middle name Sawn

MsJuniper · 04/07/2015 02:02

Butterfly no mine is a few years younger and different first name. Perhaps they'll meet one day!

Quasilulu · 04/07/2015 01:36

Sorry... Mazella is the name I love

Quasilulu · 04/07/2015 01:35

I love that name! Never heard it before. Just had a baby boy but if I ever have another girl maybe...

ButterflyOfFreedom · 04/07/2015 00:59

GinUp - I do know of someone called Storm. . and Rainbow.

Winter, Autumn & Summer are quite nice - Spring would be pushing it!!

ButterflyOfFreedom · 04/07/2015 00:56

MrsJuniper I think he'll be about 7 now. He's a Joseph Jupiter - is he yours??? Wink

GinUpGirl · 04/07/2015 00:12

I've been inspired by the weather: Breeze, Zephyr, Rain, Snow, Storm too far

OP posts:
WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant · 04/07/2015 00:11

Love scout!
Dd has a welsh middle name, which people love.

Scout
Rio
Hero
For girls

Erroll
Ford
Danger
Are my favourite for boys

MsJuniper · 03/07/2015 23:50

ButterflyOfFreedom how old is the person you know with that middle name? Just, er, wondering...

BeaufortBelle · 03/07/2015 22:33

I have very unusual first and middle names. I would have loved to have been called Jane Louise. DD has a classic, simple first name. Her middle name is more unusual but not at all made up. She is 17. She has decided to use her middle name!

AuditAngel · 03/07/2015 22:31

In our house we have Valentino, Faith and Amelia a

If DD2 had been a boy she would have been Francisco Rafael

We subsequently discovered DHZ has an ancestor with the name Espantaleon which means lion Scarer. If we had know that when we had DS that would have been his MN.

CityDweller · 03/07/2015 22:27

My sister's middle name is Angel. I got one of the very dull standard ones already mentioned. WTF parents? Why not just say 'this one is our interesting DD and this is the boring one'. To be fair, she hated it growing up (but loved it once she was an adult)