# How many middle names do you have?



## mpcsb (Jan 1, 2005)

Recently, some friends commented that they thought it odd I had so many middle names (3). 

MPCSB actually stands for my name: M. Perry Charles Stuart B. My dad had three also: G. Anthony George Edward B. (OK so no comments about haw many names of English monarchs are involved, remember I didn't pick them.)

I this really uncommon? How many middle names do most people have?

Cheers


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## bosthist (Apr 4, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by mpcsb_
> 
> Recently, some friends commented that they thought it odd I had so many middle names (3).
> 
> ...


Almost everyone I know has one middle name and a few friends have no middle name. My wife has two, but she changed her last name in her early 20s and simply moved her former last name into the middle. Three would surely make a monogram an interesting endeavor.

Regards,

Charles


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## ChubbyTiger (Mar 10, 2005)

I think that most Americans only have one. I've always associated, rightly or wrongly, multiple middle names with the high end English and upper-crust New Englanders. English nobility and the Mayflower crowd, interesting example of convergent evolution, isn't it?

CT



Back off, man I'm a scientist. -- Dr. Peter Venkman


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## Coolidge24 (Mar 21, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by ChubbyTiger_
> 
> I think that most Americans only have one. I've always associated, rightly or wrongly, multiple middle names with the high end English and upper-crust New Englanders. English nobility and the Mayflower crowd, interesting example of convergent evolution, isn't it?
> 
> ...


I have but one. The debate in my family was over whether it should be a geneological last name or a first name, or whether, alternatively, my first name should be the geneological last name with a regular middle name just in case I didnt like the first name or it ended up un-nicknamable!

Coolidge


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## KenR (Jun 22, 2005)

Does a confirmation name count as 2?


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## ChubbyTiger (Mar 10, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by KenR_
> 
> Does a confirmation name count as 2?


I wasn't counting it that way. If it does, then I suppose I fall into my aforementioned "upper-crust/nobility" crowd. Actually, I think that proves that it doesn't count. 

CT


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## Joe Frances (Sep 1, 2004)

Two: Joseph Anthony Michael


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## Literide (Nov 11, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by mpcsb_
> 
> Recently, some friends commented that they thought it odd I had so many middle names (3).
> 
> ...


Clearly Dad is a Hanoverian and you a Jacobite. Sorry couldnt resist.


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## Literide (Nov 11, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by ChubbyTiger_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


2 different things. Confirmation is something you pick up later in life, double barreled middle names are on your birth certificate.

Just an observation: Catholics get their first names and confirmation names from saints, while protestants get their names from their ancestors.

My Mother was given no middle name because she was given a mouthful of a family surname as a first name. With the diminishing birthrate in the next generation of my family and so many living prior generations around, my neice got 2 middle names in order to please 2 living female progenitors with strong personalities.


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

one


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## Gurdon (Feb 7, 2005)

My youngest son has two middle names. Roy, geneologial, represents three or four ancestors of that name, and the other Aaron, is biblical and related thematically to another son's first name (Jacob). 

His full name, Malcolm Aaron Roy Miller didn't sound too upper crusty to us or we'd have named him something else. On his first day in public high school the math teacher when calling role remarked on Malcolm having that name and being white. 

In one branch of my family (the German speaking Anabaptists) biblical names, Jacob being one of them, were used. 

Regards,
Gurdon


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## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

I have two, but I use the first as my first name, and have shifted my first name to being an initial. 

my wife has one, but being latin american, she has a whole load of suffix names


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## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

One. Initial is "L" and I refuse to say what it stands for, it's so goofy.

For a long time I have dropped it completely; now I am considering adding it to my byline, at least.


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## Literide (Nov 11, 2004)

> quote:_Originally posted by Gurdon_
> 
> My youngest son has two middle names. Roy, geneologial, represents three or four ancestors of that name, and the other Aaron, is biblical and related thematically to another son's first name (Jacob).
> 
> ...


It's interesting that that teacher did not recognize Malcolm for it's Pictish roots, and made such a tastless and inapropriate comment.


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## marc_au (Apr 22, 2004)

1 middle name. l wished l had alot more. People with lots of middle names appear to look special.

*GR8MAN (The shooman) B8MAN.

*


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## crazyquik (Jun 8, 2005)

1

Have friends from Thailand with none. If I had a spare one I'd give it to them


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## Vladimir Berkov (Apr 19, 2005)

I have one, and only recently discovered that there are people out there who have no middle name at all. I thought everybody had at least one!


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## young guy (Jan 6, 2005)

Just one, David, went by Dave as a kid because I didn't like being called Ted (or the even worse Theodore). Now I don't mind.


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## CaliforniaDreamer (Nov 17, 2005)

I have two middle names - John Kevin. I don't use the Kevin - don't like it at all.


-----------------

"If one takes pride in one's craft, you won't let a good thing die. Risking it through not pushing hard enough is not a humility." - Paul Keating


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## Gurdon (Feb 7, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Literide_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


My mother-in-law's family is from the Isle of Lewis and that's why my wife selected the name. We didn't, however, take offense at what his teacher said.

The school is about 1/3 each, black, white, Armenian. The teacher was black, and fellow Berkeley alumnus. Malcolm is a frequently used first name in the African American community. I am occasionally asked whether I was aware of that, or whether I mind having a son with the same name as Malcolm X. My answer is that I was aware of both aspects of the name and pleased by both, particularly the association with Malcolm X.

Jacob's middle name is Hudson. My wife, who was born in Poughkeepsie, thinks we named him for the river valley of that name. Actually he's named for the Hudson class of NY Central locomotives.

Regards,
Gurdon


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## Étienne (Sep 3, 2005)

Like most French people, I have two and never use them. We do not use middle initials.

Therefore, my middle names are available, almost unused, for those unfortunate chaps who have less or none and whish to have more. I am feeling generous today.


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## gmac (Aug 13, 2005)

I have two, Robert and Kenneth, my maternal grandfather and my paternal uncle. My christian name has no family roots - mu mum just liked it. Robert and Kenneth are both ancient Scottish kings which I rather like.

My own son, Cameron, has two also. James, his paternal grandfather and maternal uncle, and Lornie, my wife's maiden name. His grandfather calls him CJ to my wife's horror.

------------------


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## SeaPlusPlus (Feb 11, 2003)

My middle name is Raymond... so for confirmation I took the name Paul because I liked the sound of my new initials... R R P P... 

(what do you want from an eleven year old?????)

Thank you...

Rich

Do the clothes suit you?
Do the clothes suit the occasion?
Do the clothes suit each other?


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## CPVS (Jul 17, 2005)

Only one middle name, which happens to be my father's first name.


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## Guessgirl96 (Dec 2, 2005)

I was born in Russia where your middle name is the posestive tense of your fathers name. I think this is called petronemic? Maybe I have the wrong word, not sure. I dropped it when I came to America cuase I didn't really like how it makes it look like I'm the property of my dad, so I have no middle name, just first and last.


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## crazyquik (Jun 8, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by Guessgirl96_
> 
> I was born in Russia where your middle name is the posestive tense of your fathers name. I think this is called petronemic? Maybe I have the wrong word, not sure. I dropped it when I came to America cuase I didn't really like how it makes it look like I'm the property of my dad, so I have no middle name, just first and last.


Wow I never knew that!


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## wby (Sep 10, 2003)

I have one middle name, as do most Southerners. However, it is very popular in the South, especially among the upper classes, to give children last names for first and/or middle names. I coach a youth lacrosse team in which almost all of the players come from the most affluent suburbs and neighborhoods. When looking down the roster, it is difficult to determine which side is for the first name and which is the last name. Also, some names just don't roll off the tongue as well as others, so you end up with a lot of nicknames like Mac and Bo or guys going by their initials. You also see girls with masculine sounding names like Blake, Ryan, Clarke, etc., and guys with names like Hillary and Leslie. 

Going to school up north, I ran into the multiple middle names. Like an earlier poster said, this was common among New Englanders. Finally, I recently did some legal work for a Mexican corporation. We had to double and triple check the documents to make sure we had correctly listed the principals' names, as the Mexican executives with which we worked commonly had five or six names.


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## Murrah (Mar 28, 2005)

We did that. My son's middle name is Jackson (after the great Confederate general), but we call him Jack.


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## AlanC (Oct 28, 2003)

I have one: Alan.


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## crazyquik (Jun 8, 2005)

> quote:_Originally posted by wby_
> 
> However, it is very popular in the South, especially among the upper classes, to give children last names for first and/or middle names.


I, from NC, have a last name as my middle name. I share it with my grandfather who got it from someplace else in the family. And back thru the ages it goes!


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## PartagasIV (Dec 13, 2005)

Only 1 middle name; however, I carry an 'IV' after my name also.


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## Fogey (Aug 27, 2005)

Three: My first middle name is fourth-generation on my father's side; my second middle name is after an ancestor, King Philip IV 'The Fair' of France; my third middle name is fifth-generation through my maternal grandfather. My forename is after my 6th great-grandfather in the male line. He lived in the 18th century, and our shared name is perhaps why I have such a fondness for that era. Our surname has only changed once in over half a millenium.

The bureaucratisation of life increasingly annoys me, since most forms tyrannically only permit a single middle initial. There is an especially toasty place in Hell for those responsible. [}]


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## Jae iLL (Nov 14, 2009)

I have one, third generation middle name. I suppose whenever I have my first son I'll give him two middle names, so I can continue that tradition and give him another middle name of my choosing.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

My middle name is Paul.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Jae ill, are you aware you have responded to a thread that is EIGHT years old? I wonder why and how, you would have had to have gone back many archived pages to find it. But why? What are you doing?


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## Tilton (Nov 27, 2011)

Why not get it rolling again?

My father's side (including myself) have had two middle names for a good long while. I usually drop one initial when writing my name, as does my father and as did my grandfather.

Really, I'm just thankful my parents bucked the trend of first names such as Tilton (ha), Fillmore, Augustus and Augustian, Elbridge, Sumner and Cornwall, given their tendencies to be shortened to Tilly, Filly, Auggie, Elly, and Wally. My dad recalls having relatives with such nicknames and every one of them hated it, but some how those names had just stuck.


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## VictorRomeo (Sep 11, 2009)

My first name is double-barrelled of which I am the III, then when baptised I was given the name Edward after my Great-Grandfather. Finally, when confirmed in my early teens(a Catholic thing) I chose the name Paul (rather stupidly as my best buddy back then was Paul and he took my name)! So, I have four names before my surname... I only use one though day to day...


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## CuffDaddy (Feb 26, 2009)

Just the one middle name. It's so good, I don't require a backup.


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## Kingstonian (Dec 23, 2007)

Reminds me of the old days of cricket when teams were divided into Gentlemen and Players. Gentlemen were amateurs and usually had three initials in front of their name. Players were professionals and had just one initial. Sri Lankans now have up to six initials - as if their names were not long enough.
https://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/apr/03/cricket-names-initials-gentleman-players


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## Traser (Jan 10, 2013)

I have one: "Alan" - father's forename (dare one say Christian name these days?)

My brother has one: "Gerrard" - our mother's maiden name (and dammit! we've given away one of the obvious on-line banking security questions!)


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## phyrpowr (Aug 30, 2009)

Just one, Mom's maiden name.

Just got to throw in my favorite name of all time: Admiral Sir _Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax_. Was head of the failed British mission to Moscow in 1939 to try to get Stalin into an anti-Hitler alliance


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## AJLP (Oct 12, 2007)

technically two. Joseph, my father's first name, and de Lara, my mother's maiden name. Kind of a combination of my Minnesotan and Filipino heritage.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Three:

J. P. P. Ó. B


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## MGE (Jun 13, 2013)

I have one, Gerard. My last name is double-barreled but I only use the first part in my initials and my professional life.


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## Claybuster (Aug 29, 2007)

One middle name.


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