Is there anyone out there giving only one name these days?

[toja555]

Hi, I never understood the two name (first-middle) madness, because I haven't meet anyone that is called with both names. I understand if it is given following cultural tradition, or family tradition involving family names, but other than that? My DS has only one name and I am now expecting the 2nd DC. I am feeling pressurised when someone asks what middle name I am thinking of... I am not thinking of that, I am only thinking of the only one, perfect name for our baby. Is this right nowadays? Is there anyone out there who is not giving a middle name?

DS doesn't have a middle name. He does have two surnames though so we felt it would be a bit of a mouthful to have a middle name as well.

I think the problem of having the same first/surname combination as hundreds of other people only really matters if both names are very common eg. John Smith. That might cause problems with identity theft/mix-ups etc. If there are a few dozen people in the world, it's probably not really going to affect you.

Also in my experience, several children were very embarrassed about their strange middle names. I have never met anybody upset at not having one. They were sometimes seen as the lucky ones!!!

I don´t have a middle name & always hated that I didn´t.

My children both do.

Son has his father´s middle name.
Daughter has my maternal Grandmother´s.

I agree that having a first name and surname only is not going to get confusing unless it is a very common first name and surname. we have chosen a fairly unusual name for DS1 and will do the same for DS2 aswell so there's no need for middle names. It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

it's nice to have a middle name - it means that you can pay homage to a relative or great friend without having to have it as their main name.
and it just feels more complete as a name.
it also means that they've got something to fall back on if they decide they really hate their name.

and it sounds great when you want to be officious

we had our banns read for the first time last week and loads of people commented on my middle name, as they hadn't heard it before. (noone said anything bad about it, thank god!)

also OP, something to bear in mind...if your DS already has no middle name and you are thinking of giving your second DC a middle name, later on the eldest will wonder why he wasn't given one too. IMHO it would seem a tad unfair to give one a middle name and not the other.

Just because the majority on the thread have given their DC middle names doesn't mean you should feel bad about not giving one. Sometimes it's good to be different.

I've never been picked on atall for not having a middle name, infact I don't think it's ever come up in a conversation. There are more important things in life to discuss!
I think many would prefer not to have a middle name (some friends of mine have ones they are embarassed about!). The grass is always greener....

"it's nice to have a middle name - it means that you can pay homage to a relative or great friend without having to have it as their main name."

that's all very well, but if you have many male or female relatives, someone will take the huff if you choose another name over their's for your DCs middle name. it can cause all sorts of problems.

Another one here without a middle name and very happy about it. Definatlely quicker when filling in forms etc. .

no middle name for mine. hard enough coming up with one name.

Ds doesn't have a middle name.
Dd does, but just because I really wanted her to have also my grandmother's name.

Ds couldn't care less that he doesn't have a middle name.

I don't have a middle name and wasn't planning on giving DS one but he ended up with two middle names

My youngest sister has not given either of her (2) children middle names. My middle sister has given her dd one middle name. I, on the other hand, have given my dds (3 of them) two middle names each Seemed like a good idea at the time, and when you've done it for one dc, you have to do it for all of them!

None of us have middle names, btw!

neither of my ds's have a middle name - it honestly never occurred to me to give them one!

My DH doesn't understand the middle name thing. He can't see the point as yu are only known by one name. I insisted for our children but probably only because everyone else does.

I only gave ds1 one name for the same reasons as you, then he asked for some middle names when he started school, he wanted dh's middle name and one other so we added two extra names for him. With ds2 we have given him two middle names from the outset to avoid having to add them later. When we announced the birth of ds2 to family and friends we just told people the first name as the middle names seem irrelevant really, I don't know what my friends have given their children as middle names and I have no interest either.

DS1 has two, first name came in a dream! His second name after daddy.
DS2 left first name to DH, went with it, but had my choice as second.
DH has only one name and feels left out when we talk it with friends [like his mom couldn't be bothered, she had 8 kids!].

Every one has different experiences, so go with what you feel is right.

Also, I think you can retrospectively give your first child a second name, ask at the registrar office when you go to register your new baby.

My oldest sister got given a middle name but me and my other sister weren't. Always hated not having one. Not that fond of my first name so a middle name would have given me another option. And like others have said, I felt left out when doing the 'what's your middle name' conversations at school.

Though I found the problem with middle names is using up your favourite names in one go! DS3 had DS1's middle name as his first name.

Thank you for so many opinions. I am a bit relieved today to have found various opinions on this. I am definitely not thinking to give my second DC a middle name, for the same reasons as others. The idea that another name can be added at any time by deed poll, is kind of relief, because both children can choose what they want, if they dislike their first name.
I am only a bit regretting not giving my DS a baptism name (his first name is already a saint name), I didn?t know you have to say the baptism name in preparatory baptism classes and we hadn?t even discussed at the time, we were caught not ready. I would have loved to give my dad?s name as a baptism name but now it is too late.

I have a middle name and I am called by it by some people. I love it. My dad calls me by my middle name and it feels like a kind of secret thing between us, if that makes sense.

DD has a middle name too, which honours both of my grandmothers.

DH has none and couldn't care less. It's not that traditional here. In fact, some people here assume both of DD's names are meant to be said all of the time (as if the name was hyphenated which it's not) which is a bit of a mouthful, but I correct them and that's that.

I would also say that you're more likely to get picked on at school if you have a middle name than if you don't. No one can make fun of you for not having a middle name - there's nothing to make fun of! It's one less thing to get picked on at school about IMO.

I didn't but that was DH's choice and I was very about it. I don't know why, mns are pointless. But I wanted one.

SIL gave her 2 DDS just one name.
Then I had my DD and gave her a middle name.
SIL said "oh of course, Catholic, I forgot..."
She was mistaken though surely, I don't think it is a religious thing at all, although perhaps a cultural family thing.

DDs middle name isn't after anyone, we just liked it. It's a bit too poncey for a first name where we live, but i thought it added a bit of ponce to her fairly normal first name.