Middle names - necessary?

For those who asks " when do you ever use the MN" In the case of my children they use them for their emails

So say DS is Adam Bertram Charles Davies
his email is ABCDavies@ ....

DD1 is studying to become a teacher and has had a conversation about social media and how visible she is.

Say her name is Anna Betty Charlotte Davies

This means she has gone from Anna Davies to Anna BettyC This means those of use who knows who she is can find her but those who do not are less likely too.

My mother was known by her MN from age 17 Decided to use it over her first name and when she passed away her entire family called her by the MN not the FN.

I don't use mine a great deal however I was named for an aunt who was killed in a car crash and due to that my NM (despite it being unpronounceable in English and VERY old fashioned in my birth country) has always been quite dear to me. DH uses his as his business name (Say his name is Alexander Brian Clayton Davies the business name is Clayton Business)

So they can come in handy.

@TheOneRach 'hubby' and 'bambino' are among my personal pet hates. I'd rather have a gazillion middle names any day. Each to their own, etc...

My hubby and i don't have middle names and we've said our bambino won't have one either! They're really not necessary unless you want to carry on a family tradition...

One of my personal pet hates is people who deliberately pick 2 names so they can abbreviate them like to get "A.J" etc etc... just no!!!

"How do you tell off children who don't have middle names?"

Make one up? James for a boy, Grace for a girl.

I always wished I had a middle name. So much so that as a child I made one up!

First name, surname.

Also, I'm mostly called by a diminutive, I was only ever called by my full first name if I was being told off. So much so that I really don't like being called by it even now, and I'm 51! 😂

How do you tell off children who don't have middle names?

Love this. It's literally the only good use for one.

How do you tell off children who don't have middle names? It's how you know that you're really in trouble isn't it?

"Norman Stanley Fletcher, put down that gerbil immediately!"

Sorry not read the whole thread
How about using your or your husband's first or middle names as the baby's middle name.
My eldest sister has our mum's name for middle. Next sister has a female version of our dad's first name. I have our mum's middle name for my middle name.
My younger daughter has my middle name for hers, so that has flowed 3 generations.

My god daughter was not given any mn and she says she wishes she had one. The child might feel that since everyone else has a mn his name is missing something, esp if Dd1 has one. I would certainly give him a middle name.

I agree with this. I wish I had one then I wouldn't be stuck with the shite Christian name I have - I could use the other (perhaps) . I was the first child and all of the others have "family" names. I really felt it (and ridiculously, still do) that I wasn't named after anyone in the family. It's like they didn't want me/ like me enough to want me to be part of the rest of the family. My mother even told me that they were hoping for a boy and when they had me hadn't even thought of girls' names, so asked the midwife to choose one.

I think Lewis Reid is lovely. Give him a middle name. If the doesn't use it, there's nothing lost.

Lewis Reid is fabulous and different, I'd definitely go with it.

Lewis Reid is good. So is Lewis Alexander. I like Lewis James too.
Not sure about Lewis Christopher - the proximity of the two 'iss' sounds isn't that attractive.

Lewis Christopher is great, as is Lewis James.

I don't have one nor does DD. Actually my family don't really do middle names.....
Personally I don't see the point of them unless it's a name which really means something to you. When would you use it though? Is it a British thing?
DP had one but he has the same first name as his dad (and his dad before him) so the middle initial differentiates so I can see that but I don't get giving your children the same name as the parents either.....

Only my eldest sibling has a middle name.
I have given both my kids middle names that because my surname is very long and very foreign and unpronounceable so thought for the kids sake I gave them both short popular middle names incase they want to go by FN MN and lose the surname and only use it officially.

Lewis Christopher
Lewis Jonathan
Lewis William
Lewis Alexander
Lewis Charles
Lewis James

I would give your baby a middle name if your older DD has one; I imagine the baby would feel rather short changed when he grows up and is old enough to realise. DM has one middle names, her DBs have two each; he has always felt second best because of this, among other reasons.

I would as your eldest does.
Reid is nice. A family name from your side would be nice. Is there a male version of your mum's name if you don't use reid.

Lewis Reid sounds great.

We used a middle name but only because it was a tribute to a living grandparent. I wouldn't have used a 'filler' one just for the sake of it.

You have some good suggestions here, my favourite is Lewis Alexander.

I don't have a middle name (parents too mean to give me one grrrrr), but would have LOVED one. I invented some as a child.

I have a middle nane but never use it. I think they are pointless.

DH doesn't have one and I wish I didn't

They have to have a middle name! You could end up creating a lifetime of resentment.

I know a lady in her 80s with fairly advanced dementia who remembers and is still upset and offended that as the youngest of four children she was the only one not to have a middle name. She ended up far more successful and wealthy than her siblings but she never forgave the name thing.

Definitely give a middle name! DB has two, named after our granddads, but I was only given the one short, naff 70's name that everyone else had. I was so upset not to be named after my beloved grandma that I started using it anyway and it's now on my passport, marriage certificate etc.

I love, love, love middle names. You can go completely crazy with them. My DC have several apiece.

I like Lewis James but tbh I think any of the names u have said work perfectly well with Lewis :)