Are middle names necessary if we cannot find one we like?

[BrightonBuzz]

We're not giving our DD a middle name. There are almost no names that sound right with the sort of first name that we've chosen, and I refuse to use a basic one (Rose, Grace, Mae, Anne, Marie, etc.) that I dislike just for her to have one. However, my mum is insisting that we give her one but cannot articulate why we should. I have never used my middle name and only know the middle names of a handful of people in my life (my parents, my DH, my siblings, my nieces and nephews, my best friend). Outside of the tradition of it, they seem rather useless. Surely, they wouldn't be optional if it was that important? Thoughts?

Every company I’ve worked for just put a number after the name if there was more than one.

Plenty of people don’t have a middle name and exist fine. If someone doesn’t like their given name they can just choose to use a completely different name. I have two friends who have done that.

Fine at work but I’m talking about personal Gmail/hotmail accounts. Much larger pool of people needing a unique identifier. Same with social media usernames and online log ins etc.

And I never said it was insurmountable just that not having a middle name does sometimes create a very mild annoyance to balance all the middle names have no use whatsoever posts.

Nice to use a middle name to name after a relative.
Annoying when it can be spelt 2 ways then they cant spell your surname as well...all my life.

Completely unnecessary and probably saves a lot of of time over a lifetime from not having to write it out each time on forms etc.

No middle name here.

Never caused any problems with email addresses or visas/immigration or indeed anywhere or anything.

I have a middle name but have never understood the need for them. The only time I use mine is when filling in something like the form for a passport.

You can just put a number on a personal email address too though which is hardly a problem. Like [email protected] instead of [email protected] or whatever.

Totally unnecessary unless you want it! I hated my middle name and removed it by deed poll, I love not having one now. My children have though, my son has his dad’s name in the middle because the names sounded perfect together and my daughter has a middle name that sounds lovely with her first, not a family name just a random one that I loved

They're not necessary, but I can't believe that out of all the thousands of names out there you can't find a single one that you could see yourself using.

I was going to suggest the same. I have two family members who are known by their middle name. I only found out years down the line that the names I knew them by weren't actually their first names.

They are legally required. You (and your newborn) will be arrested if they don't have one.

Honestly, this cannot be a serious question

That's weird... None of our family have one (my parents, my sister or my kids), and none of these things have ever been an issue. And I've travelled to some far flung places!

My children do have middle names. Long ones. But mostly because we love them and the way they sound. If I was naming them again then they would have two middle names each. Their second would be my maiden name. I took my husbands name and so did they. But I would like to see my name in there somewhere. Not a double barrel. But as a middle name.

I'm glad I have a middle name because I really hate my first name. I've gone by my middle name since I was a baby. My parents had to use a back up first name for me because my cousin arrived just before me and was given the name my parents had chosen, so I guess they didn't like my first name much either.

I honestly thought we were the only ones without 🤣

DH doesn't have one. I don't have one. All four of the DC don't have one.

We all are getting on fine in life.

Ours have their after our respective dads, mine was a traditional one that most females on my mothers side had, why I don't know. Would never pick a random one just for the sake of having a second name. My husband hasn't got one

I don’t have one either. It makes it quicker to fill out forms but I always wanted one. I like the idea of honoring lost family members or much loved still living family members with a middle name. Do you think your mums angling for you to give the baby her name as a middle name?

Names are just options.

From time to time something happens to make a name less appealing. I am sure there were more Adolfs about once. It isn't such a dreadful chore to fill out a form when - very occasionally - it requires a MN. And sometimes someone just really doesn't like their first name.

I know someone who was youngest of 6. All the others had a MN and when it got to them, their parents just kind of ran out of steam and ideas. She has always resented that.

Neither can I. There are going to be far more taxing tasks as a parent than finding a decent middle name.

We often use a child's middle name in school when they share a first name with others and their surnames start with the same letter. They can definitely be useful in that situation!

I mainly gave my children middle names as they have an extremely common surname and relatively generic first names so thought them having middle names may help add something that can help differentiate them in the world.

OP has stated in a reply to someone that the first name they've chosen is hyphenated, so every potential middle name doesn't sound right with it.

I don’t agree with naming a child after a family for a first name!! Big John/little John situation. My DH, great grandad, grandad, uncle, brother and a cousin all have the same name!! My dad’s sister all named their sons after their dad! We’re in our 40’s and they still get called little xyz However both my children have a middle name to honour a family member. If you don’t want to do this then no middle name is fine. My mum and her brothers don’t have middle names because their surname was so long

No middle name, neither have my children and now my grandchild. No issues at all.