How Do You Feel About Your Own Middle Name?

[35andThriving]

Just out of curiosity.

I have seen posts on here saying they don't matter much, that nobody really takes much notice of them after the birth announcement. I do take notice and have a good memory for people's full names.

I like my middle name as it is a family name and I like feeling connected to my other relatives through it.

Just thought this might make an interesting thread.

Never think about it. To the point when I met someone with my middle name as their first name it never even occurred to me that it was a name of mine!
Might as well not have it really.

I don't have one and have never felt that I lacked something. My parents thought I was going to be a boy, and had no girls names picked at all. When I turned out to be another girl, they simply asked the midwife what her christian name was - and that's what I ended up with. No middle name at all. I'm happy with what I've got, no complaints . And I never notice what other people's middle names are, they just don't register with me.

I hate it. It’s the ultimate pointless filler name. It’s not even a name is just a sound!

I don't have one. I was jealous of people with them.

Plus it gets boring with forms/people asking for it and then getting confused by my lack of one...

I don't mind my middle name - it is pretty in itself, but very much of its time. I'm glad my DF balked and campaigned for a more classic/traditional first name (which is also my DM's name which I also like).

I was born in the 70s when girls' middle names were still being rationed after the war and people could only choose from Louise, Jane, Clare or Anne.

Like @35andThriving, mine is a family name and I love it. I always wanted two actually, which my parents have. My kids have family names too. To me it seems a bit weird to give a middle name just for the sake of it - I see middle names as a way to carry on family traditions.

I like mine because it's my mum's name and she is wonderful

I like mine, it's a variation of my grandmother's name so nice to have a connection to her. I like the name too, I'd have used it for my DD except it rhymes with my (now) surname!

I don't think I really know anyone else's though apart from close friends/family and wouldn't think anything of it if someone didn't have one (or had a silly one!)

I don't have one and when I was a child I wished I did. Now I see that nothing would have fitted.

I don’t like mine. It’s from someone who was really good to my parents, so that part’s nice. But in sound, I don’t like it at all. That doesn’t matter in any way though as it doesn’t come up often. My only annoyance is I dislike my first name too but wouldn’t use my middle either, so it would have been nice to have the option.

I've got two and I hate them both. The long one is pretty but there's never enough room on forms. The other one just isn't a very nice name.

I don't have one and always felt a bit left out at school when everyone else was sharing theirs. I'm not keen on giving family names as middle names as I think it can get a bit political, plus the names of grandparents / parents etc. often aren't very nice and feel quite dated. We gave our daughter a middle name and chose a name we really loved and was maybe a bit more 'out there' than the first name we gave her. But honestly very few people know what it is, it's never really used, so I'm not sure it's actually that important and, as an adult, my lack of middle name doesn't bother me at all, particularly as I have an unusual first name.

I’ve got two - both names of English queens which narrows it down a bit I like the first one but the second one is really boring IMO.

I don’t see the point of middle names as fillers, we gave DD two, one being the middle name of mine that I like, and the other a very unusual French name. Both her middle names honour family members too.

I don't like mine. I also hate my first name,they are both very old fashioned names. There was no family connection to them , my DM just had bad taste

Mine is just a nice name but has no meaning. I’m in a toss up now between using my grandpa’s name as our baby’s middle name (which doesn’t flow as well) or use a name that goes better and has some meaning in my partner’s family but we’re not sure exactly what!

Terrible middle name! The fact that it was ‘saved’ for the very last child (it was mums name) says it all really.

I always found it convenient to have three initials to differentiate between me and the many people who seem to have the same first and last initial as me, but the actual name- meh.

@BarbaraPapa

I was born in the 70s when girls' middle names were still being rationed after the war and people could only choose from Louise, Jane, Clare or Anne.

so true! I'm late 70s and my middle name is Anne.

I barely think about my middle name to be honest (probably because it's quite boring). If I had an interesting one like Persephone or Hermione, I'd probably be inclined to casually drop it into conversation when introducing myself.

Hated mine growing up - it sounds like a rude word when combined with my first name - parents didn’t think it through!

I always thought I’d drop it if I got married and took my husband’s name, but now looking like if DP and I ever did get married I’d keep my name anyway, as we’re giving it to the baby, so looks like I’m stuck with it!

As I’ve got older I’ve learned to embrace the funny side of it, but still would have appreciated a ‘normal’ middle name.

Very 70s trending names, for both first and second. Five girls in my year group at school had the first name, 2 had the second name. DM has a family name for girls (Mary/Marie) but DF overruled her. I barely use it now unless for formal reasons.

DD's middle name was DH's first name choice. I hated it but allowed it as a middle name as a compromise.

@BarbaraPapa

I was born in the 70s when girls' middle names were still being rationed after the war and people could only choose from Louise, Jane, Clare or Anne.

I've got one of those and I wasn't born in the seventies! Bit boring but a friend has Christobel as hers and hates it, especially next to her ordinary first name.

My main gripe is my two names together can be a single name (think Mary-Jane) and my gp surgery addresses me that way, making me into someone else. Their computer can't cope with being corrected, it seems.

@BarbaraPapa

I was born in the 70s when girls' middle names were still being rationed after the war and people could only choose from Louise, Jane, Clare or Anne.

I used to work in a team of women all born in the late 70s/early 80s and we were all either Ann, Jane or Louise.

I’m known in my family by my initials so my middle name does get used in that sense, but I don’t really give much thought to the actual name.

I have two mn and always really liked them/liked telling people I have two. They are after my two aunts. I agree with previous posters that it's nice to have names that are somewhere in the family tree or something special rather than just a random name for the sake of it.

I put a lot of thought into choosing my daughters middle names and what works with their first names. My eldest has my sisters name and my youngest has my DHs neices name.

I hate it but it’s my mum’s sister’s name so I understand the sentiment behind it. So glad it’s a middle name and therefore rarely used.