Conference oass::babynames

I know weveral people, who when they reached maturity, chose to 
use their middle names instead of their first names.  Gives the 
kid a choice would be one response to your question.  My dad 
never had a middle name, so adopted a middle initial, just 
because he thought it looked and sounded nicer.

< Note 148.0 by UCOUNT::JARVIS >
                            -< Why MIDDLE names??? >-

    Hello,
    
    I am new to this conference but definately have an interest in baby
    names.  I am a new mother.
    
    My husband and I have a dilema.  I don't understand why a middle
    name is necessary or even desirable.  As you can probably see right
    away we are not agreeing!
    
    Except for the obvious reason to use that name for a relative to
    honor them, I feel that middle names are excess baggage for anyone
    to carry.  (and no I do not have one!)  Most people do not like
    their middle name anyway.  And everytime you have to put your legal
    name on a document most people put the initial.
                              
    I would really like to understand why he feels so strongly about
    a middle name and hope I can get some type of help here.
    
    I also hope noone takes offense at my position, but I feel it is
    hard enough to agree on 1 name let alone 2 that need to fit together
    well! 
    
    Thank you in advance.
    
    Deb
    

    Well, it is certainly not something you have to have.  My neighbor
    didn't give her son one and his father doesn't have one.  They
    have a very uncommon last name though.  The reasons I can see for
    wanting one would be if you have a very common last name, so it
    may help tell which John Smith you are, or if you are a Jr., in
    which case one of them can actually be called by their middle name.
    It does give the child the chance to go by something other than
    their first name, in case they really dislike.
    It can also be a problem for some forms and systems, not having
    a middle name to fill in.
    
    By the way, I like my middle name, and my husbands too.  We gave
    his middle name to our son as a middle name - was almost a first
    name but we didn't care for the nickname that went with it.
    
    Sounds like you have a problem though since the two of you disagree.
    I know that feeling just trying to pick a first name!
    
    Robin
    

    I don't know if I'm misinformed, but I always thought middle names
    were associated with bapstism, similar to a confirmation name
    being assiciated to your confirmation. I thought they were supposed
    to be named after a saint to associate yourself with. BUT, this
    doesn't explain anyone who has a middle name and is not associated
    to a religion which has baptismal rights. Maybe I asked the question
    when I was in Sunday school and some nun gave me this hairbrain
    answer just to shut me up. I'm sure middle names are derived from
    some "ancient" tradition. Look at royality...they have multiple
    names. Or it could have been to distinguish people from each other
    back when the "melting pot" phenomenon didn't exist and towns were
    very close knit.

    
    
    I've always liked my middle name too. But the real reason I'm proud
    of it is because it's my grandmother's first name, someone I love
    very much and feel very honored to be named after....so yes, this
    is the "obvious" reason to give a middle name and just in my
    opinion, from my own experience, it gives me a sense of family.
    
    My family is very close, as middle names are important ways of
    honoring a relative, we take it seriously.  The boys in our
    family switch the first and middle names every other generation.
    
    ie. my grandfather - Charles Salvatore Saranita
        my father      - Salvatore Charles Saranita
        my brother     - Charles Salvatore Saranita
    
    This is an Italian tradion and is carried on because we have great
    pride in our anscestors and "who" we are.  
    
    Aside from all the tradition, I am Catholic and the middle name is
    from a Saint that we learned examples from and prayed to for
    guidance.  I still remember the report I wrote for Religion 
    class on my Patron Saint (that was 17 years ago).
    
    So, that's why middle names are important to our family. But if
    you don't have religion or tradition, I could see why you'd
    think they are useless, because in that case, they would be.
                  
    Loreen Rose
               
    

    I give.... 8^>  
    
    I do have religion (Roman Catholic) and believe that is what
    Confirmation names are for.  So the individual person can pick a
    name of a saint or religious person to identify with.  I also have
    tradition in my family and would use a first name to honor a relative.
    
    Besides all of that I understand how personal a name is and that
    is part of the reason I did not want to assign a middle name to my baby;
    but let him/her chose their own - whether it be a confirmation name
    or later a legal middle name.
    
    BUT.... it is important to my husband to pick a middle name now,
    so here are the choices so far.
    
    BOY:    Lawrence Michael Jarvis   (Michael is my maiden name)
    GIRL:   Michelle  ???    Jarvis   (Michelle is the feminine of Michael)
            
    I do appreciate the responses and I DO understand everyone's reasons
    for feeling the way they do.
    
    Thank you
    

        I realize you've already decided to let your husband give your
    future addition a middle name, but I thought I'd throw in my two
    cents as to why I like my middle name too.    
                                              
    	I too love my middle name for the same reasons mentioned by "Loreen
Rose" (note .4).  My name, Julie Elna, looks pretty, even with those two "e's"
right next to each other, and reminds me of a truely great lady, my mother's
mother - Elna Julet nee Hendrikson.  
	With my fair skin, dark eyes and dark hair, "Elna", is a nice reminder
of my Swedish heritage which certainly doesn't show on the outside.  In addition
being named after one's grandmother is becoming a tradition in my family.
	My mom's name is June Wilhemina, and while the middle name is quite a
mouthful, she loves it because of the fond memories of her paternal grandmother
Wihelmina Julet.   My sis received Karen Elizabeth after dad's mom Elizabeth
Madden, and I've mentioned where my middle name came from.  Sis named her
daughter Christie June.  I think she did a fabulous job of carrying on the
tradition, and I certainly plan on carrying it on too! 

p.s. It's really great not to be just another "Julie Ann".

    Middle names were originally a way of distinguishing individuals
    in small close-knit towns especially where there was a strong tendency
    to name the first-born son after the father and the first-born daughter
    after the mother.  This was a way of providing unique identification
    of sometimes 3 or maybe 4 generations of say John Brown's.
    
    The middle name was also used as a way of propagating the family
    name of the wife, particularly where the wife was an only daughter
    so as to at least partially avoid the "end of the family line".
    
    I have two middle names and am very proud to carry the middle names
    of both my grandfathers.  This causes as many problems as no middle
    name in that most "official" systems cannot cope.
    
    However, it has saved many problems in confusion with banks drawing
    funds from the wrong S Brook(e/s/es).  Having and using the initials
    usually saves the problem.
    
    I know someone with no middle name who is quite regularly having
    judgements served upon him for others who have his name and sometimes
    has real difficulty proving that he is *NOT* the guilty party. 
    Try stopping a garnishee after it is in place!  Moreover, he regularly
    gets telephone calls: "Are you so-and-so who used to be in
    such-and-such a place?".  He has often considered adding an initial
    just to be saved this inconvenience.  He doesn't want a middle name
    because he enjoys his rather uniqueness just as I enjoy mine.
    
    So as I see it No middle name is at your child's risk
    

    Gee, I know this note is rather old, but I just couldn't resist
    adding to it!  I thought we had middle names because the parents
    had SO MANY names that they just loved so in order to use up more
    of them, they added more names!!! ;-)  The alternative, of course,
    was to have that many children!!!
    
    I think when I have kids I will give them about 4 middle names each!
    
    No, seriously, I do often wonder how parents ever narrow the list
    down and pick just 2.  Of course, I suppose the fact that the mom
    has one list and the father has another helps since after they merge
    the 2, the lists are usually cut down considerably...
    
    And then we run to the babynames notesfile for help in making up
    a whole new list! :-)
    
    Lesa

Entered by Greg for my wife (Kathryn Louise):

   "Sometimes people fit their middle names better than their first names.
    My husband's name is Philip Gregory. His parents got him home from the
    hospital and said "he's not a Philip, he's a Gregory!" Hence he goes by
    Greg.
    Also middle names can be a good way of keeping a name in a family. In
    my family "Louise" is used as a middle name. Great-grandmother was
    Martha Louise. Aunt is Alice Louise. The next generation has Mary
    Louise, Nellie Louise, and Kathryn Louise.  The generation after that
    has Theresa Louise, Patricia Louise and Sarah Louise."

This note hits home with me.  My husband's full name is John David Murry, but 
he goes by David.  His parent's named him that with the intention of calling 
him David - strange, I know.  He thinks it's weird too, so we have fun with 
it and somedays I call him John or even Jack if we're really feeling wacky!

Now, my maiden name was Dawn Marie Retzel, and yes people call me Dawn.
But, the best part was when I met his parent's for the first time - one of 
the first things his father asked me was "So, is Dawn your first name or your 
middle name?" as if this was the "normal" thing to do! 

I think middle names add more character and variety to your name, but I 
wouldn't say they were a necessity, unless you are my husband! ;-)

I also like the idea of using family surnames for middle names.  My brother's 
name was (he died) Richard Wellington Retzel.  Richard is my father's name, 
and Wellington is my mother's maiden name.  I plan to use Wellington as a 
middle name for a son if I have one because I really like it and I want to 
have something from my brother to carry on.

Just my $.02,
Dawn

    Dawn,
    (I know two other Dawns, by the way - nothing unusual for me!),
    there are many cultures that habitually use the middle names. In
    French (Catholic) Canada, people often have several first names - 
    the first of which is often Joseph for boys and Marie for girls. 
    Rarely are they addressed by these names, more often by the second
    name. 
    I also know more than one person who was named after one of their
    parents, but the family used the middle name of the child to
    differentiate between family members, then this natually becomes
    their used name. Some adults also switch to their middle name if
    they are unhappy in some way with the first name.
    
    Monica

Monica,

Yes that is true - rather than confuse a father and son, I can see using the 
middle name.  But in David's case he wasn't named after any relative and his 
father's name is Hershel (sp?).  Oh well, I guess "David" fits him better 
than "John", but it's strange to me to name your kid 1 name with full 
intention of never calling him that!

BTW - I like the name Monica!  Does anyone ever try to shorten it or nickname 
you?

Thanks,
Dawn

    As my family uses the german pronounciation with a long "o",
    (i.e. pronounced "Mow-nica") They have shortened it to Moni (also
    with the long "o" sound). Now this has been the exclusive right
    of my family and oldest and closest friends. However, I do not 
    like to have aquaintences and strangers use this form of my name
    and I will correct them if they use "Moni". One of my Canadian friends
    likes to call me "mon" (with the shorter "o" of the north american
    pronounciation). Thats okay too, I guess, but "moni" simply feels
    to intimate for general usage. 
    
    Monica
    
    P.S. I like your maiden name. The word R�tzel (pronounced almost the 
    same I would imagine) means puzzle in german - often used as the word for 
    cross-word puzzle.     

    My brother-in-law's family name their first born boys George XXXXX
    Lastname.  All go by their middle names.  Just a little tradition, I
    guess.
    
    -sandy
    

Monica,

Yes, my maiden name is German.  My grandfather actually came from Austria 
when he was 12, and at that time his name was spelled Retzl, but American's 
had a tough time with the second syllable so he added the second 'e' for 
Retzel.

Dawn