Middle Names

[Minniemagoo]

Just musing here re middle names. I notice a lot of threads with people worrying about whether first and middle names run together and tbh I never gave it much thought with my kids. We picked their names from family names and I don't think I ever gave a thought to how they sounded together as I never really envisaged using them.
On the flip side I use my first and middle initial when signing all my work documentation. I sign so much and my first and surname were rather long and if I just signed my initials they were CC so I added the middle initial years ago and its stuck.
I don't think anyone knows what my middle name is just the initial.
So my musings (finally) is how much do people use their middle names?

Never, but known a couple of people at work to sign with 3 initials like you

Never used my middle name and when we had children it was hard enough choosing and agreeing on their first names so we never gave them middle names.

Mine is part of my email address so I use it a lot.

I never use mine ever, apart from on official paperwork from the bank or something.

Norway is funny, here they use middle names together with first names as a matter of natural habit. It took me weeks for me to persuade daycare to stop using both of my daughter's names :D

I have friends who get really shocked when they find out I have a 'secret' middle name

I'm not a fan of my middle name I don't use it to be fair but with my DC's I made sure that their middle names suited them both and went along with first name and surname and even broke them down to initials to make sure it didn't look daft and even if they wanted to go by middle names when older they could I'm bonkers I know but having grown up with a middle name I don't like and would happily change it if it didn't mean upsetting my own mum I would I guess I get fed up of people assuming it was my old surname or a double barrel surname it isn't and never has been but it's one my mums side of family all have as a middle name including my DB 🤦🏻‍♀️

I have a double barrell first name(which mumsnet hates!) So no middle name I am know as the full name so "Sarah-Jane " rather than Sarah or Jane ! My boys have family names as middle names which never get used apart from on official documentation or when I'm annoyed with them .

I don't have a middle name to use.

Never really use them. Only time I've used all my initials is in my email address as all other variants were taken.

My mums logic is you can use middle names to define a person as its unlikely that you'll have ALL names the same as someone else. So if someone with your first and last name commits a crime or whatever you can differentiate yourself from them 😁😁 it's odd logic cuz they never really publish full names but there we go!

We chose to use DS's Grandad's names as his middle names and will use family names for any future DC but its just a formality really. Both our families have 2 middle names so we're just following tradition

My boss and I had the same initials, so I always added my middle name initial if I had to initial something to differentiate between us.

Interesting that work and e-mails seem to be the main reason people use them. I had forgotten that for all the kids gmail accounts I had to use their middle initials to set them up, not a common surname and 1 DD has a very unusual spelling of her name so was genuinely surprised at that one.

Just for official purposes.

DS chooses to use his middle name rather than his first name. So he uses S Henry Jones rather than Samuel H Jones (not his name, obviously).