to wonder why some parents decide not to give their children middle names?

[BelleTheBeatnik]

I'm not saying they should, I'm just wondering if it's because they don't feel a middle name would fit well with the first or surname, or perhaps because it was stressful enough choosing one name, let alone too!
If you did give your child a middle name, was it because you specifically liked a second name, or wanted to honour a family member, or was it just a case of "that's the done thing". Just curious, my brain has weird musings at this time of night!

In the past I have known a couple with a boy and a girl where the boy was given the dad's name and the girl the mum's!

I have one and hate it, it was the name of a family member and it is an old lady name, I was teased relentlessly at school over it, I rarely acknowledge its existence now. Never use it as part of my signature or initials etc. It would be OK again on a child nowadays, having come full circle, it is my first name which sounds dated and is never heard on a child

There is one male name which features heavily in both our families which would have been an obvious choice for DS but it is a bit old fashioned and didn't want to do that to him, so we just gave him one which we liked, without family connotations and therefore we felt we should give DD one as well, but really struggled to find one, I'm not altogether happy with it but hopefully she will be ok with it as she gets older. I won't be offended if she dispenses with it.

Oh and I also knew one woman that has 2 sons. They both have a middle name but just the other way round, for example, John Steven Smith and the other son Steven John Smith. She said once that the dentist was always getting them mixed up, I'm not bloody surprised!!

I have no middle name and have never had it hamper me proving my identity!

None for the dc either - no one in my family has one.

DH has no middle name and a very short first name.

His dad said if he grew up as lazy as himself, he'd want as little as possible to write out and sign :)

I know one family where all four boys have the same middle name.

I have two sisters and my mum only gave two of us middle names :O shocking ;)

My son's middle name is after my dad. My middle name is just one my parents liked.

My mum has none, my dad has 2.

My sister and I have none as my mum thinks they're pointless, and what my mum thinks is generally regarded as law.

DS has 1, it is a family name on DHs side. Nice, but I have to agree with DM, rather pointless.

My ds just has one name. Whats the point of 2? We over do everything nowadays.

WhoKnowsWhereTheMistletoes that reminds me, I have a friend with 3 kids, 1 girl and 2 boys, all with the same middle name, after the dad's football team! Told you I have a thing about names!

My middle name has always been used as my first name. It's very confusing in a situation where my first name is being used and it always takes me a minute to twig that it's me being called.

My DC have the same four middle names as that is the done thing in DH's culture.

My FIL has that too JaneBennet, his initials are J R, but is always called by the R name

It didn't occur to us tbh.

I think there is only really a point to middle names if they are given for a particular reason, ie to remember or please a particular relative or friend. DS has two middle names- one for his grandfather and one for two of his great-grandfathers, one of whom brought me up. I wouldn't have just given him a middle name because I liked it, if you see what I mean.

I have two unusual middle names, both family names again. We have quite a few unusual middle names in my family as there was a tradition of giving a child the name of an uncle, for example, marrying into the family. Lots of slightly bizarre name combinations but quite useful for family history research!

My DC's do have them, both after DH's parents. DD's is because I love the name and would have liked to have used it and was nearly called it myself. But she has a cousin with it so that was out and it became a middle name. DS's was because FIL nearly died when I was pregnant

I've been doing our family tree and turns out to be something of a family tradition to be known by your middle name. Mum is as she hates her first name. But she only found out recently that both her parents were and her Grandfather.

DD doesn't like her first name and would like to change it. Can't go to her middle name but we've found a name which uses some of the letters from her first name and some from her middle name which is an option.

After family members mainly.

Dd has two linked together to make one middle name cause I didn't want to give two. Ds has two, my dad passed away the month before I got pg and the second one is because we couldn't choose a first name we liked two so he has had both.

That's exactly why we did choose our daughter's names kungfupanda, as we liked them and they sounded good together, and we didn't want a name after a friend or relative.

I know someone with a son that has the grandad's names as middle names. I wondered if she would do the same if she had another boy or if she had a girl use the grandmothers names. In the end her daughter has 2 middle names, can't remember what one is, but the other is the name of a dog that had to be put down shortly before or after the girl was born, it was a 'human' name though

Not tge reason why but feel pretty certain no one else has either of these name combinations, there's no one on Fb anyway.

DH has only his first and surname. He is one of many people within his extended family with exactly the same name (tradition/culture of naming children after parents and grandparents) It irritates him although it doesn't bother him as such. DC have middle names and aren't named after relatives and are unique which makes me happy.

FWIW I loathe my middle name (not that keen on my first name either) but I'm glad I have one. I like having a middle initial

I have no evidence for this and have done no research () but I've always assumed they became popular when it was tradition for boys to be named after their fathers, regardless of how many boys there were in the family iyswim. So you'd have Dad-John Smith, DS1 John Peter Smith, DS2 John Michael Smith etc. I know some old families in Europe do this still, and many European Catholic families call all daughters Marie/Maria with another name, sometimes hyphenated. I once taught a girl called Marie-Elizabeth and she had 4 sisters, all called Marie-something. Her parents were Count and Countess of somewhere (in Germany or Austria I think) and apparently it was the done thing for them.

I think often people have family traditions too-women in my family for generations have had their mother's middle name as their own first name. I broke it with DD as my middle name is very boring!

That said our DD has two middle names, one because it goes really nicely with her first name and the other after DH's mum who died a few months before DD was born.

On my mother's side, the eldest daughter was 'traditionally' given the middle nam 'Ann'. I really upset my Mum and Grandmother when I broke with tradition and gave my daughter a completely unrelated middle name!! I just hated that it was expected! What a rebel!

My kids don't have them.

Reason being that imo they are pointless. They just make filling out forms take longer.

Our kids have a double barrel surname, and no dead male relatives to use as meaningful middle names... the living male relatives have names I wouldn't inlfict on the kids either, so it was easier to stick with just one name.

At least I think that was our reasoning with number one child, with number two, he was unamed for 3 weeks (known only as Bean) so there was certainly an element of not wasting anymore time by thinking of a second name after it took so long to decide on his first.

I have 2 middle names, together with quite long first and surnames. I tend not to fit on any official forms! It did come in useful as a child when playing what time is it Mr. Fox. DS has. A middle name to stop his initials spelling a word.

Seriously I think it is silly to think it might stop somebody being identified correctly because they have a middle name.

I think it completely the parents choice and I can see why some people would like to do it but I really cannot see a practical reason for it at all.

I defiantly don't think anyone should be made to feel like hey have disadvantaged their child by not sticking ella, may or rose in the middle of their name.