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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Would you give your child your first name as a middle name?

81 replies

juniperdingleberries · 01/04/2016 15:32

Giving your child your middle name seems quite common, or another relatives first name as a middle name. But I never seem to hear of parents giving a child their first name as a middle name?

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Coldtoeswarmheart · 01/04/2016 23:36

My kids both have my maiden name as their middle name. I don't think it's very different to that really.

Disregardme · 02/04/2016 00:04

I have my mum's name as my middle name. It makes me feel closer to her as I love the fact she chose me (second born dd) to pass her name into.
My ds has my maiden name as his middle name.

DramaAlpaca · 02/04/2016 00:07

If I'd had a daughter she'd have had the Irish version of my name as her middle name.

My name is my grandmother's middle name & I really love that connection to her.

Baz13 · 02/04/2016 09:15

I see no problem with it. Me and my sister have the same mn as my mum's mn. She did this as she didn't get her mum's mn but her younger sister did, and she was very upset and jealous about it (there is a 10 year age gap and my mum was the only girl out of 3 boys at the time). My DD's middle name is my sisters first name. My DD is 7 and she loves that she has a connection to her auntie - as does my sister. I am thinking of using my mn if this baby is a girl - because I think the mn flows well and I like the fact there will be meaning in the mn also, I will ask my DD opinion on it (as I don't want her to feel left out etc...but don't think she would as she has a family name).

BoboBunnyH0p · 02/04/2016 19:52

My DB has my Dads name as his middle name and my DN has DB name as his middle name.
My DH and I decided no family link to middle names, this was DH idea as he is named fully after his grandfather (first and middle) and he found it really upsetting when his grandfather died to see his name on a death certificate.

mathanxiety · 03/04/2016 06:46

I used family names for all the DCs, and nobody felt left out as the other family didn't know the family members in question. Also, some of the names I chose were in common.

I almost gave DD3 my BC name as a middle name (I am known by the Irish version ) but instead gave her another family name that I felt went better with her first name -- the name I chose for my confirmation. DD4 has my middle name as her middle name. It's also the name of one of her aunts on exH's side.

BeautifulLiar · 03/04/2016 20:13

Yeh, I've just done this. Well, gave her the middle name Kate (I'm Katherine known as Kat)

Serenity05 · 03/04/2016 20:29

I don't like my name so I wouldn't give it to a DD but I don't see anything wrong with it in principle. However I was quite keen on giving DS DH's name as a middle name because it's also my brother's name, so it made sense to me, but DH said it would make him feel 'weird'.

CutYourHairAndGetAJob · 03/04/2016 20:35

This is a tradition in my dad's family, but only for boys. So my dad has his dad's name as a middle name and my brother has my dad's. My brother broke with tradition and didn't give his son his name as a middle name. However, I gave my ds my dad's middle name as a first name, mostly because I happened to like the name, but the family connection is nice too.

sallyhasleftthebuilding · 03/04/2016 20:37

DS first name is his fathers middle name - we didn't know that it's also his great grandfathers name - it was the only name we agreed on and very close to the name I wanted

On doing a family tree we discovered generations of his name in the tree

MadisonAvenue · 03/04/2016 20:50

Mu husband has the same first name as his father, and when our youngest son was born my mother in law wanted him to be given this name too. Suffice to say she didn't get her way.
He does, however, sort of have the same name as me. My name is usually shortened to a one syllable name which also has a masculine version and when our youngest was born we tried and tried for ages to come up with a name for him but the only one that suited him was the male version of mine (in the shortened state) and we did actually hold off registering him in the hope that we'd have a light bulb moment and find something else.
He wasn't intentionally named after me, and I always explain to people that it was all that suited him. It does get confusing when someone shouts the name and we both answer but I honestly can't imagine him being called anything else, it suits him perfectly.

GingerLeaves · 04/04/2016 01:45

I wouldn't... I have my aunt's name (but spelt differently) so it's already been reused

BitOutOfPractice · 04/04/2016 02:36

My FiL gave his name as a middle name to BOTH of his sons

katienana · 04/04/2016 03:01

My sons name is boring, he has: his grandads first name as his first name
Dads middle name is his first name
My brothers first name is his middle name and my brothers middle name is ds first name.
Ds middle name was also my grandads first name!
It made a lot of people cry happy tears when we named him!!!
However we've only met one other child with the same first name. So I think we pull it off.

ABitAsleep · 04/04/2016 12:22

I wouldn't give my child my middle name, or in fact any other relative or friends middle name - just as my parents didn't give me 'someone else's name'.

I think children who have raletive names as middle names are unfortunate becuase the relatives names always seem old and fusty, if not when you are naming the child, they will be when they are older. I personally think it is unfair and selfish to inflict a horrible name on your child just becuase great granny Doreen, etc, etc was a beloved member of the family.

Just as my parents did with me, i would choose another nice, normal and common at the time name, so if they ever didn't like their first name, they could use their middle name as an alternative.

BoBo90 · 05/04/2016 20:32

It's tradition on my dads side that the name John is passed down from father to son . Sometimes as a first name and sometimes as a middle name. I would happily have given any future ds John as a middle name but with my new surname of Johnson it wont really work!

I don't find it weird at all. I would be proud to have my mums name as a middle name. It's just another little connection between us so don't worry about it :) x

Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 05/04/2016 20:46

I wouldn't give a rat my first name as a MN, let alone my own child. It's awful. I've never forgive my parents for calling me it. You can't shorten it or anything. Its Clare.

Raines100 · 08/04/2016 11:04

To me, I can't see the point of a mn if it's not to honour a family member. That's what a mn is, that's it's purpose, and if you can't stand your family, baby gets your first name .

Very happy that this is not necessarily what a mn is to everyone. That's just my take.

EekAWoodlouse · 08/04/2016 11:13

No, because I don't like my name enough to call my child it. No problems with it on principle though.

My DD are both named after their grandmothers, one as first name and one as middle name.

mrsmugoo · 08/04/2016 11:19

Its traditional isn't it in some families?

Not arrogant or boring or unimaginative.

Judgemental much?!

FretYeNot · 08/04/2016 11:35

My name is a little odd, I have the same first name as my mum, but my parents have never used it and call me by my middle name. Apparently it's because my grandmother wanted to call my mum Diane Laura* but called her Diane Marie instead so my mum called me Diane Laura. Also, my name flows better how it is, it would have been clunky had my two names been reversed. Not to mention, there's a strong family tradition of people using their middle names in my family, my granddad, uncle, aunt and cousin all use their middle names.

*Not the actual names.

dd1's middle name is the same as two of my aunties,
ds's middle name is the same as his paternal granddad and my maternal granddad,
dd2's first name is the same as my cousin (her dad chose her name)
dd3's first name is the same as my sister and her dad's sister's middle name and her middle name is after my paternal grandmother.

EekAWoodlouse · 08/04/2016 11:41

Sorry, I meant MY grandmothers - so DD's great-grandmothers. Both classic names I loved anyway.

flowilliamson · 08/04/2016 12:22

I don't get it either, it's even weirder when they are named after their parents. My uncle is named after my grandad and when someone goes "Andrew" they both turn around ALL THE TIME!

My middle name is the same as my dads but his middle name, not his name. That's weird too lol, but I like it.

septembersunshine · 08/04/2016 15:05

Interesting thread. Some members of the family have used all family names for their children. So for example one child has great grandfathers name/grandfathers name/ family name/surname. Christopher is the popular choice for our family as a first name. There are about ten in the immediate family alone and it drives me mad. I think why not have that as a middle name and think of another name for your son. We have gone the polar opposite. Brand new names for each child. Mostly non-biblical. No family names used at all. I go out of my way to make sure that the names we pick have not been used by anyone else in the family and it works for us.

MarleneH · 26/10/2023 21:19

I know I’m a few years late lol - but came across this just. I gave my first born daughter my first name as a middle name.
It flows well, but most importantly I was named after my great grandad (female version Obvs), so I passed my name, and that of my great grandfathers onto my daughter which feels super special to have a ‘family name’ but also share a name with my first born x

ps- I am a social worker so I really have to cover my identity, even on sites like this. So I go by my middle name, incase your wondering what the male diminutive of Marlene is 🤣

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