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.

I forget I have it most of the time and don't identify with it as one of my names. Don't notice if I am introduced to someone called it.

I don't have one and I felt very left out growing up among a sea of girls who mostly had Louise, Anne or Elizabeth as their middle names.

My middle name is the one I've always been known as.
My full name is something like Linda Patricia Turner. (not the real names)
I hate being called 'Linda'. Everyone knows me at 'Pat' and I don't like Pat Turner'.
'Patricia Turner' is fine.

Work emails and things usually end up being '[email protected]'

Every time I have something like a hospital appointment, I get called 'Linda Turner'

At school, that horrible teacher would insist on calling me 'Linda', which meant that the 'Lindas' would respond, but I wouldn't.

** I actually like the name 'Linda', it's just not me though.

It's useful to me to have one because I have an incredibly common surname and fairly common first name, so it's helped with email addresses etc.

Other than that I don't use it unless required on official forms.

Growing up, friends either liked their middle names, hated their middle names, or weren't bothered.

The ones with hyphenated first names , all -Jane or -Anne are known by the first part of the name only. A few go by First Name Middle Name (e.g. Sally Anne and Sarah Jane) though.

Those with Jane or Anne as a middle name tend to say that everyone with their first name has the same middle name.

My DC didn't get middle names.

I'm another one who was born in the 1970s and has one of the common names quoted earlier!

It's fine. I like my first name and I don't really care what my middle name is, so to have a common, boring one is perfectly ok.

I like mine and think it should be my first name as it suits me

I don’t mind my middle name but can’t stand my first name! I do remember being at school and everyone sharing middle names and feeling very sorry for all the children who didn’t have one. All my dc have middle names and dd2 has the same as me.

I like having a middle name, and I like knowing other people's middle names - it just makes life more interesting! Mine is one of the four mandated 70s middle names but I don't mind that.

Mine's Rose. I like it 🤷🏻‍♀️

I don't care about mine. I might as well not have it. I don't see the point of middle names and none of my 3 DC have one.

I like my middle name so much that it's the one I go by all the time.

I detest my first name.

I don't really care about mine. It's fine but doesn't hold any significance or interest. It goes fine with my first name but I don't have any connection to it.
If I have a boy I want to give him an old Italian family name which I couldn't get away with as a first name (Vittorio). As we move away from the Italian generations I think it's important to keep the connection. I want them to know where their family originated from even though we've been in England for a few generations now. Don't mind if it's one of two or not.

I like mine. Its Elizabeth. My 1st name isn't common and my parents thought that if I didn't like that, I could use the many options of my middle name instead- Beth, Liz, Liza etc. Fortunately, I love my 1st name, but a non-filler middle name is important IMO.

Hate mine but apparently it was my father's choice and as I have no memory of him that might colour my view!

I don't have one and I really wish I had because it just doesn't feel complete.

@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.

Ha ha, ''Bingo!''

(i was born in the 70s)

I don't really think about mine often, but I'm glad I have it! It's my mum's first name, I should have my dad's (the standard where I'm from) but he was adamant I should have my mum's. If possible, I'd like to do the same with any daughters of mine.

Mine screams 1985. Doesn’t bother me and don’t really think about it.

The same as the other 50% of woman who share my middle name in the late 80s... you're either a Jane or Louise 😂😂

Middle names are useful because they help organisations to distinguish between individuals with otherwise similar names and identify them correctly.

I like mine- I go by my middle name!

Grown to like it as I've got older

Mine is Louise (along with most girls born in the 70s and 80s) it’s fine as a middle name, just boring but wouldn’t want it to be my first name

Mine is meh like my first name. And my sister's! I honestly think my parents put zero thought into our names. Literally zero! Dullest, most unremarkable names ever.
And as a child in the 70s I was very much seen and not heard so that may have had something to do with their choices!