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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To hate 'filler' middle names

116 replies

VAVAV00M · 09/07/2013 06:02

Middle names like Ann, Marie, May, Rose, Grace, Jane

FFS just don't put one down if you aren't going to be a bit creative!

Disclaimer: slightly light hearted and possibly bias as my favourite names are Rose, May and Grace so I feel the beauty is being taken away...

OP posts:
ImTooHecsyForYourParty · 09/07/2013 12:17

What on earth makes you think they are filler names and not simply names that people love?

They're all really pretty names.

Why wouldn't people just like them?!

I seriously doubt anyone goes hmm, don't really fancy a middle name for my child but I suppose maybe I ought to, what's a good sort of 'none' name? I know...

KurriKurri · 09/07/2013 12:32

Surely a filler middle name would be Polly?

OP you are wrong in so many ways, but life is too short to enumerate them.

BlackMini · 09/07/2013 12:39

My middle name is one of those, it's hardly a filler as I was named after my mum's mother who was murdered in the most appalling way that has ripped my family apart. 40 years later people are still devastated.

So, YABU and judgey.

YippeeKiYayMakkaPakka · 09/07/2013 12:49

Grin Kurri

My DD2's middle name is on your list, but it was my grandmother's name so not simply 'filler'. So YABU.

123oap · 09/07/2013 12:49

One of the joys of becoming parents to choosing your child's name. Everyone has their own particular reason for choosing a name, and it may not be to everyone's taste, but that's why we are all different. Your thread is insensitive to others.

Goldendandelion · 09/07/2013 12:54

All 3 of my girls middle names are on your list. I chose them because I like them but not as much as their first names.

squalorvictoria · 09/07/2013 12:57

'Twas ever thus.

Everyone my age has either Ann(e), Jane or Louise as a middle name - myself included.

Girls today have either Rose, Grace or May/Mae/Mai.

They feel predictable and unimaginative to me.

Kasterborous · 09/07/2013 13:05

One of those names is my DD's first name and one is my middle name. They are all lovely names what ever order they go in.

Vintageclock · 09/07/2013 13:32

Gosh a lot of angst on this thread.

I don't entirely agree with you OP as a lot of people choose a middle name in honour of a parent or other relative (or in Catholic countries often in honour of a Saint).
But it's hardly a rude and insulting thread and some people really like to find something to feel sensitive about.

doingthesplitz · 09/07/2013 13:56

I don't really agree that middle names should be 'creative' but I'm laughing at some of the huffy, offended posts on here.

Personally, I thnk a middle name should be chosen for a reason and I find it strange on Baby Names when someone is agonising over whether to choose Rose or Willow or Daisy for a second name. Let's face it, you never really use your middle name apart from filling in forms and at your wedding. It's hardly a big deal. So yes, I would always take the opportunity to use it as a nice way of remembering someone important to me.

Chivetalking · 09/07/2013 14:07

DD has two of those as middle names.

Given you've set yourself up as name police, OP perhaps you'd like to share what we should have chosen Hmm

SarahAndFuck · 09/07/2013 14:12

Squalorvictoria I suspect we may be the same age. I'm one of three cousins born within just six months of each other and we each have one of those middle names.

And I've used one of those middle names in the OP, not because it was a filler, but because I think it is a beautiful name, suited my beautiful daughter and enhanced her very lovely first name as well.

Which is one of the things I think a middle name should do, compliment the first name and surname.

I had considered one of the others the OP mentioned as well, should I have had another daughter, again not because I wanted to fill in a gap but because we thought the name went beautifully with the first name and other middle name we had chosen.

I think picking something beautiful but currently popular because you love it is far better than coming up with something unusual just so you can look creative.

Katiepoes · 09/07/2013 15:04

Why is a 'creative' name seen as desirable? Today's 'creative' name could be tomorrow's drag queen name. Load of nonsense.

My daughter has a middle name that would be very common and probably seen as boring by 'creative' types, it is however also my, my grandmother and great-grandmother's first name. I wanted to keep it but not call her by it, being 'creative' was never even considered.

FruOla · 09/07/2013 15:43

I have two middle names, one of which is close to one of your 'filler' names, the other is rather unusual.

The reason my parents chose - and kept them - is because I'm adopted and they kept my two original names as 'fillers' and gave me a new first name.

I was adopted waaay back in time, when adoptive parents didn't keep the original names of their adopted children.

I count myself bloody lucky I've still got my original names from when I was born ...... as 'fillers'. Hmm Angry

Mamf74 · 09/07/2013 16:20

My DD has one of these names as her middle name, it was my Mum's maiden name and therefore the name of my lovely, lovely grandparents who I owe a lot to and miss every day.

We could have chosen something just because it was usual or creative but thought a name in remembrance of her family and those who had gone before was a bit more dignified.

Each to their own and all that.

buzzgirly · 09/07/2013 16:38

YABU

Both Dd and I have the middle name May. We are named after my mother's beloved Granny.

Madsometimes · 09/07/2013 17:12

Dd1 has a derivative of one of these names as her first name, and dd2 has one of these as a middle name. They are both names of grandparents and great grandparents. I think they are very pretty.

cardibach · 09/07/2013 17:57

I'm struggling to see (as suggested by the OP and a couple of other posters) how a name can be lovely for a first name but a 'filler', dull and 'taking away the beauty' when it comes as a middle name Confused
People choose names for all sorts of reasons, so YABU.

rockybalboa · 09/07/2013 17:59

My middle name (Louise) is a 70's 'filler' name as is my sister's (Jane) so I do understand the sentiment. No rationale behind either name.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 09/07/2013 18:02

I wished I had had a 60s/70s filler name when I was younger, to be like all my friends. I was given my grandmother's name, which is a proper old lady name (fashionable again now) I got teased so much at school that I never use it now at all.

everlong · 09/07/2013 18:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Onetwo34 · 09/07/2013 18:11

I feel bad for all the great great aunt Dorises. None of them honoured. The great great aunt Gerties and the great great aunt Berthas.

miffybun73 · 09/07/2013 18:19

Maybe they are popular because they are lovely names.

Unpopular names are names that other people have not chosen with great frequency. There are other reasons than that people are lacking in imagination.

I'd rather use a popular name that is lovely than seek out a name for the primary reason that it's outside of the top 100.

Some names are unpopular for a very good reason because they are hideous.

YummyYummyYum · 09/07/2013 18:41

At least there are not Tylers and Chardonnays Grin

disclaimer: it was my attempt of a joke, I do not care what people call their children.

lottieandmia · 09/07/2013 18:43

Of course YABU - what a name means to one person doesn't meant the same thing to another!