Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Baby names

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

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

Middle names - necessary?

54 replies

DwangelaForever · 09/09/2018 08:34

Ok so I'm currently pregnant with baby number 2. Naming number 1 was hard enough but we got there in the end, a name we both loved with DHs late mother's name as a middle name.

Due in just over 4 weeks and we're at an absolute loss over first names (never mind middle names).

I'm loving the name Lewis and I think hubby likes it too, my only problem is that I don't think it flows with any names for a middle name?

Also worried cause our DDs middle name is so personal and we don't really have any personal names to give DS. Don't know if we should avoid a middle name for lack of meaning or give him one cause DD has one.

There is a sort of family middle name of Reid in my mums side of family so that could be a contender but does it flow?

Advice and suggestions welcome 😊

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Icklepup · 17/09/2018 14:30

Lewis Christopher is nice.

jarox · 17/09/2018 14:34

My DS doesn't have a mn. (First child) but my two dds do. This was because my DH didn't think it was necessary for a boy but a pretty addition to the girls. My son now says he feels left out without one and has asked to have my DH name as a middle name. My DH was so emotional about it and felt really guilty for not giving it to him in the first place 😄 I say nicer t have one and not use it then not have one at all!xx

MasonJar · 17/09/2018 14:44

I'm glad I don't have a middle name, pointless IMHO and can be embarrassing.
Have been to weddings when full names of B & G are given and people snigger as the second name seems old fashioned or just doesn't suit the person.

SheGotBetteDavisEyes · 17/09/2018 14:50

Our DC do have middle names, but I honestly don't really know why. The older I get, the more pointless they seem! People angst about it for ages, then never use them.

I'm always silently approving of people who ditch middle names and go for a solid, strong, two-name name! I think it's great

Fruitcake13 · 17/09/2018 16:00

I like Lewis James but tbh I think any of the names u have said work perfectly well with Lewis :)

Totopoly · 17/09/2018 16:10

I love, love, love middle names. You can go completely crazy with them. My DC have several apiece.

BaronessBomburst · 17/09/2018 16:17

Definitely give a middle name! DB has two, named after our granddads, but I was only given the one short, naff 70's name that everyone else had. I was so upset not to be named after my beloved grandma that I started using it anyway and it's now on my passport, marriage certificate etc.

NoToast · 17/09/2018 19:35

They have to have a middle name! You could end up creating a lifetime of resentment.

I know a lady in her 80s with fairly advanced dementia who remembers and is still upset and offended that as the youngest of four children she was the only one not to have a middle name. She ended up far more successful and wealthy than her siblings but she never forgave the name thing.

lynsey91 · 17/09/2018 20:41

I have a middle nane but never use it. I think they are pointless.

DH doesn't have one and I wish I didn't

Rebecca36 · 17/09/2018 20:56

You have some good suggestions here, my favourite is Lewis Alexander.

I don't have a middle name (parents too mean to give me one grrrrr), but would have LOVED one. I invented some as a child.

butlerswharf · 17/09/2018 21:06

Lewis Reid sounds great.

We used a middle name but only because it was a tribute to a living grandparent. I wouldn't have used a 'filler' one just for the sake of it.

Dixiechickonhols · 17/09/2018 21:34

I would as your eldest does.
Reid is nice. A family name from your side would be nice. Is there a male version of your mum's name if you don't use reid.

BikeRunSki · 17/09/2018 21:38

I would give your baby a middle name if your older DD has one; I imagine the baby would feel rather short changed when he grows up and is old enough to realise. DM has one middle names, her DBs have two each; he has always felt second best because of this, among other reasons.

brizzledrizzle · 17/09/2018 22:29

Lewis Christopher
Lewis Jonathan
Lewis William
Lewis Alexander
Lewis Charles
Lewis James

popcornaddict · 17/09/2018 22:31

Only my eldest sibling has a middle name.
I have given both my kids middle names that because my surname is very long and very foreign and unpronounceable so thought for the kids sake I gave them both short popular middle names incase they want to go by FN MN and lose the surname and only use it officially.

Vinorosso74 · 17/09/2018 22:41

I don't have one nor does DD. Actually my family don't really do middle names.....
Personally I don't see the point of them unless it's a name which really means something to you. When would you use it though? Is it a British thing?
DP had one but he has the same first name as his dad (and his dad before him) so the middle initial differentiates so I can see that but I don't get giving your children the same name as the parents either.....

Chickoletta · 17/09/2018 23:06

Lewis Christopher is great, as is Lewis James.

MinaPaws · 17/09/2018 23:20

Lewis Reid is good. So is Lewis Alexander. I like Lewis James too.
Not sure about Lewis Christopher - the proximity of the two 'iss' sounds isn't that attractive.

Sugarpiehoneyeye · 18/09/2018 00:16

Lewis Reid is fabulous and different, I'd definitely go with it.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 18/09/2018 08:30

My god daughter was not given any mn and she says she wishes she had one. The child might feel that since everyone else has a mn his name is missing something, esp if Dd1 has one. I would certainly give him a middle name.

I agree with this. I wish I had one then I wouldn't be stuck with the shite Christian name I have - I could use the other (perhaps) . I was the first child and all of the others have "family" names. I really felt it (and ridiculously, still do) that I wasn't named after anyone in the family. It's like they didn't want me/ like me enough to want me to be part of the rest of the family. My mother even told me that they were hoping for a boy and when they had me hadn't even thought of girls' names, so asked the midwife to choose one.

I think Lewis Reid is lovely. Give him a middle name. If the doesn't use it, there's nothing lost.

Fireinthegrate · 18/09/2018 08:35

Sorry not read the whole thread
How about using your or your husband's first or middle names as the baby's middle name.
My eldest sister has our mum's name for middle. Next sister has a female version of our dad's first name. I have our mum's middle name for my middle name.
My younger daughter has my middle name for hers, so that has flowed 3 generations.

perfectionistchaos · 18/09/2018 13:11

How do you tell off children who don't have middle names? It's how you know that you're really in trouble isn't it?

"Norman Stanley Fletcher, put down that gerbil immediately!"

SheGotBetteDavisEyes · 18/09/2018 13:15

How do you tell off children who don't have middle names?

Love this. It's literally the only good use for one.

PhilomenaButterfly · 18/09/2018 13:17

First name, surname.

Also, I'm mostly called by a diminutive, I was only ever called by my full first name if I was being told off. So much so that I really don't like being called by it even now, and I'm 51! 😂

Sparklyfee · 18/09/2018 13:35

I always wished I had a middle name. So much so that as a child I made one up!

Flip

1 2 3

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.