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Baby names

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

How did you choose your baby's middle name?

56 replies

mynameysamey · 16/08/2026 20:12

How did you choose your baby's middle name?

Did you use a family name? Or think of a name that they could use if they didn't like their first?

OP posts:
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Peanut91 · 16/08/2026 20:29

All three kids have two middle names. First was given name of a grandfather and name of my DHs best friend who died, 2nd was given name of other grandfather and a name we absolutely loved and was first choice for first name but we couldn't use it. Third was given name of great grandmother and another name we absolutely loved but couldn't use

Mumofgirls2017 · 16/08/2026 22:04

We just went with a name we loved, but that also ‘flowed well’.

Daffodilsinthespring · 16/08/2026 22:08

Family names

ThatMintMember · 16/08/2026 22:10

Just a name that sounded nice together with the first name. No family link or anything.

theleftsuitcase · 16/08/2026 22:12

Family name that also flowed well for one dc, name with specific origin and meaning for other dc.

SeraphinaRainbird · 16/08/2026 22:16

Our first baby’s middle name was his father’s name, and our fourth baby’s was after me. My 2nd baby’s middle name was after my baby cousin who died at 3 months old, and my 3rd baby was given the two names we loved at the time, though I have to say that I wouldn’t choose his 2nd name again.

Ihaveoflate · 16/08/2026 22:17

My daughter's middle name is also mine and my mother's middle name. We didn't have much imagination when we named her 😆

ContractorQuestion · 16/08/2026 22:18

I chose first and middle names that I liked. No family connection, no meaning, just nice names.

CoffeeChocolateWine · 16/08/2026 22:23

DC1’s middle name is after a place that holds some amazing memories for us. It is a lovely standalone boy’s name in its own right, but for DH and I, it is a nod to a special place.

It would have been lovely to be able to come up with something equally personal and fitting for our DDs’ middle names but it wasn’t the case. DD1’s middle name was just because it sounded so lovely with her first name. DD2’s middle name is the other name we were considering for her given name and they sounded great together.

No family names. Neither of our families really have names that have been passed down aside from one so awful that my Mum put an abrupt stop to it when she had babies!

mynameysamey · 16/08/2026 22:29

Our family name is Anna. It's pretty. It's my middle name but I never felt much for it. I don't know whether to continue it so my daughter doesn't feel she missed out.

I also wished I had a more unusual middle name. A girl in my year at school had the middle name Winter Snow and I was very jealous! Her sister's middle name was Snowdrop and her brothers was Huckleberry.

OP posts:
Bunnybigears · 16/08/2026 22:30

We used names that we liked but were a little more unusual. I refused to use the family middle name due to my family not being the slightest bit interested in me or my children.

grafittiartist · 16/08/2026 22:48

I was sad to lose my last name when marrying, so my children got my parents family names as their middle names.
I am happy that there is a clear link to my parents families through them.

TheeNotoriousPIG · 16/08/2026 23:11

I will be using a name that I like, and which flows well with the first name. I will be avoiding family names, mainly because we do not need any extra Peters or Johns in the family... we're overrun with them!

shellyleppard · 16/08/2026 23:13

My eldest sons middle name was from 3 grandfathers and his uncle. Youngest ones middle name was the name we loved. Couldn't decide on the first name so got both names we loved this way

OtterlyAstounding · 16/08/2026 23:18

We went with family names that flowed well, and chose two middle names, so the children had one from each side.

Maddy70 · 16/08/2026 23:21

Our children's middle names came from respected relatives

Smartiepants79 · 16/08/2026 23:23

Family names from much loved great aunts.

Didimum · 16/08/2026 23:24

My daughter has my sister’s name, who died. My son has his dad’s name, because it’s my favourite name. They both also have my surname as their middle name.

MurielTheTerrible · 16/08/2026 23:24

Dd's middle name is that of the lead character in my favourite book.

JustGiveMeReason · 16/08/2026 23:25

Mumofgirls2017 · 16/08/2026 22:04

We just went with a name we loved, but that also ‘flowed well’.

This.

TheyGrewUp · 16/08/2026 23:29

DS: DH's middle name and a second middle name after one of the three wise men because he was born on Christmas day.

DD: A middle name we liked and because her first name was my grandma's, DH decided she'd have a second middle name, his grandma's.

dontforgetme · 16/08/2026 23:37

Family names for both my kids. Dd has my moms and ds my brother.

JenRummy · 16/08/2026 23:39

In Scotland the formula used to be for first names (could work for DC middle names too):

Sons
1st Father’s Father
2nd Mother’s Father
3rd Father

Daughter’s
1st Mother’s Mother
2nd Father’s Mother
3rd Mother

Crumpetring · 16/08/2026 23:39

Ours are all names that are in the family from our grandparents generation and later

Flyingdolphins · 17/08/2026 05:00

First was a middle name that lots of women on both sides of the family happen to have.

Second and third, nods to recently deceased grandfathers on both sides but lovely names in their own right.

I'm actually a bit annoyed because had I had a crystal ball I would have saved dd2s middle name to use for DD3