One name or two?

[charcb]

Hi everyone!
What's your views on giving no middle name to a child? Would you always go for two? Our list for boy names is quite short so I asked hubby if we could give him just one and he seemed to think that was odd not giving him a middle name. What's your views? Xx

I like a middle name personally, I think it makes the name seem more balanced and complete somehow. Are there any family names or variations of names you could use as a middle? Just to say I don’t have a middle name and always would have liked one (everyone else seems to have one!) so maybe this is influencing my opinion. Good luck.

I wish I had a middle name. DH and my DF go by their middle names. Both of my sons have the names of each grandfather as theirs.

Definitely have a middle name. Such a shame when people don't it feels like they've been short changed.

I love middle names!

In some countries, not having a middle name can be a problem - if he tries to get a work visa for the states it might cause difficulties as they're used to track you and confirm your identity (I listened to a radio interview once with someone who couldn't get a work visa because they couldn't run certain security checks on him because he didn't have a middle name). Lots of work places use middle initial in ID. Basically I know someone who doesn't have a middle name and its caused him a surprising amount of low-level admin hassle, so I'd give one.

It differs culturally - if you're in the UK I think that first, middle, last is standard but first last and first multiple middles last are accepted and accomodated. My dad had first, last, no middle, and he ran into issues working abroad (in Canada and the USA) when they wanted a middle initial or name for identity validation and security purposes. My mother has two middle names and it's never been an issue. I'd go with first + 1 middle + last if you don't have a good reason to do something different.

I love middle names. My mum doesn’t have one and it’s always seemed strange. I love the combo of my kids’ first and second names and often call them their full names. I know they don’t get used in many other places though. Also my sister decided aged 4 she didn’t like her name and has been known as her middle ever since!

In the country where I live, most people don't have middle names. I gave my children middle names because I wanted to give them one name from here, and one from where I come from, to give them more options later in life. Almost wish I had just given them one name though, none of the beurocratic forms have space for a middle name and people tend to get in a panic about which name to use...

Oh thanks for all the comments! Seems a wise idea then to add a middle name. I grew up in Spain and it isn't necessarily something that is so popular to give a middle name so maybe that's why I found it strange that a middle name is expected but I agree it's nice for them to have an option if they don't like their first name!

I love middle names. I know two people who don't have one and they hate it. It really does bother them not to have a middle name.

My partner has no middle name and hates it, all his siblings have one!

I have two middle names. My dp has one. Our daughters both have two. Both of the second middle names honour our mums if that makes sense.

I used to teach a lad who had 11 middles names. Seriously. It was the Man Utd treble winning first team.

My sister and I each have one middle name. DP doesn't have one and we decided not to give dd a middle name.

There was one girl's name that we both really liked and there didn't seem any point in giving dd another name just for the sake of it.

I only use my middle name when filling in really official forms like passport renewal or visa application. I don't have any connection with it at all ; it doesn't feel part of me the way that my first name does. I don't mind having a middle name but would have been just as happy with only having one name.

When I was at primary school it was about half half who had middle names and who didn't. And most of us with middle names wished we didn't have them because it was so cringingly embarrassing when people found out... it always sounded weird (even if the name was perfectly 'normal') because your friends weren't used to you being called that.

But now that I am 40 and my beloved grandma is long gone, it means a lot to me that my mum gave me my grandma's (unusual) first name as my middle name.