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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Mothers maiden name as middle name?

58 replies

bluebabydinosaur · 07/02/2018 09:21

What do you all think about using the maiden name as a middle name for baby? Im keen to do this for my son and wanted to know others thoughts. My surname sounds like a surname and not like a first name. I dont want to double barrel his actual surname and wondered if this would be a realistic alternative or is it just silly? Do many people do this? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

OP posts:

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stoneagefertilitydoll · 07/02/2018 09:23

My MIL suggested it to mine, but my surname just doesn't lend itself to being a forename, so we gave our second child my surname instead, and had one child with our surname each rather than double barrelling or having non-working second names (which would never get used anyway)

NotAnotherJaffaCake · 07/02/2018 09:23

Very common in Scotland and Northern Ireland. I have my mum's maiden name as a middle name and my children do too.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 07/02/2018 09:25

I have it as one of mine. Unfortunately for me it's a boys name as well and I don't use it anymore. If it was a neutral name I'd like it.

Original poster

bluebabydinosaur · 07/02/2018 09:26

Does having a surname as middle name caused any teasing/questions at school? Do you like having a surname as a middle name? I guess not if you used that for your children too? Many thanks

OP posts:

BoilYerHeid · 07/02/2018 09:28

Not sure why it would be silly? It's really normal.

We did it and when I put my mind to it I think at least 50% of the babies I know born over the last ten years or so have this same set up, both boys and girls. We did Forename Forename Mysurname DHsurname.

womaninatightspot · 07/02/2018 09:30

My eldest DD has my surname as a middle name. Scottish/ traditional but it is a name that can be used as a first name boy/ girl or surname. Not sure why anyone would get teased for it unless it became double barrelled and started sounding pretentious.

Original poster

bluebabydinosaur · 07/02/2018 09:31

Thank you, I just dont know anyone who actually has. Glad to hear that its 50% of babies who have this now. Id like to keep my family name in there somehow.

OP posts:

BoilYerHeid · 07/02/2018 09:35

Only 50% of the babies I can think of and that's a relatively small sample of all babies born! But I definitely don't think it's uncommon.

Rshard · 07/02/2018 09:37

My dh has his mum’s maiden name as his middle name, it’s also a regular first name. We considered doing the same for our dd, wish we had.

Chaosofcalm · 07/02/2018 09:39

We did but it can be used as an normal name but it is very American. OP is knowing her name is helpful then for you the PM me.

Buxbaum · 07/02/2018 09:45

It's the norm in my circle - generally professional women who have kept their own name on marriage. Baby has Dad's surname and Mum's surname as a middle name.

We have achieved something similar in the opposite way and given DD a double barrelled surname with both of our names, unhyphenated. If she wants to move one of them to be a second middle name and only go by the other in the future then she can.

dkb15164 · 07/02/2018 09:47

My grans first name is Mary but she gets called May; my middle name is May after her and I will be naming dd1(due April 15th) with May as her middle name as well as she will take her dad's last name so I wanted her to have a piece of me. As my partner and I are not married, we have discussed him adding May on to his name as a middle name if we get married. For me it would be difficult to change my name as I have 3 residential visas and 2 passports for different countries meaning a name change could look dodgy. However he does not want to change his last name as it has a lot of history from his dad's side due to slavery etc whereas my last name is from my dad who I speak to once or twice a year on the phone and saw a handful of times throughout my childhood.

Original poster

bluebabydinosaur · 07/02/2018 09:51

Thank you all, im loving the replies.

Is there anyone who thinks its a bad idea? if so, why?

OP posts:

Roomba · 07/02/2018 10:04

My DS has my surname as a second middle name. I didn't want to double barrel his surname and it works well as a name in itself iyswim. I am the last in my family with an unusual surname - I didn't like the idea of it just disappearing forever after me, but also wanted to give DS his father's surname for various reasons. I'm happy with his name many years later, and he likes it too. I say go for it!

carringtonm · 07/02/2018 10:05

I would absolutely be giving our son my surname as a middle name when he arrives, but it just sounds awful when said aloud with DP's surname. Both begin with the same letter and sound like a joke name together. We've opted for my grandad's name as middle name instead so that there is still a link to my side of the family.

greendale17 · 07/02/2018 10:05

Lovely idea. Go for it

implantsandaDyson · 07/02/2018 10:07

I know quite a few people that do it - I'm in NI. Most of the ones I know are first namey anyway if you know what I mean - Spencer, Murray, Reid etc. I've 3 kids - they never mention their friends middle names - teasing or otherwise. They couldn't tell you most of their friends middle names. I know their own middle names are only ever used at the Doctors when the initial comes up on the electronic board. My youngest asked me what my and her dads middle name was a few months ago - they are very rarely used on a day to day basis.

MothershipG · 07/02/2018 10:11

Both my DC have a Scottish surname as their middle name, family tradition on their Dad's side, their cousins have it too, they are older teens and have never been teased about it.

But no way would I have given them my maiden surname as it's a girls name and I found it a pain growing up and it was obviously worse for my brother.

pinkyredrose · 07/02/2018 10:12

You could use your surname as your DC surname, why do you want to use it for a middle name?

cheeseandpineapple · 07/02/2018 10:17

My husband has his mother’s maiden name as one of his middle names. I have my maiden name as my middle name (didn’t have a middle name before getting married) and my children have my maiden name as one of their middle names too. It means they have long names in their passports but in reality just use first and last name at school and out and about. But they’re v aware they have my maiden name as part of their name too and seem to like it.

BrazzleDazzleDay · 07/02/2018 10:23

I think it really depends on the name, my dm's maiden name is Dick so im fairly certain I wouldnt be greatful for that

KikiTheParrot · 07/02/2018 10:28

I think it can be very cool, depending on the actual names involved. One of my schoolfriends had Jones as a middle name and it really worked well with her other names - very stylish.

I would have loved to do the same for my kids, but unfortunately my maiden name is an actual boy's name (and a really sad and uncool one at that).

LovelyBranches · 07/02/2018 11:35

My maiden name was Williams so we used William as a middle name

WhiteHairReally · 07/02/2018 18:41

I use my own surname. Both our twenty something DCs have it as a middle name. So they have the ‘Forename Forename MySurname HisSurname’ combo mentioned upthread.
At DS’s Graduation, the whole darn lot was read out, which frankly was a bit of a mouthful. As a result, DD insisted on being announced as plain ‘Forename Surname’ at hers. That’s our example of the potential embarrassment of lots of names OP.

MsHopey · 07/02/2018 18:43

My DS has my last name but my husband's surname as his middle name.
I do think most last names that can be first names do tend to be men's names.

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