Middle Name - English-speaking Countries

English-speaking Countries

Middle names are normally chosen by parents at the same time as the first name. Names that are popular as first names are also popular as middle names. The given name of a relative is often used because of tradition or to show esteem. A middle name may be chosen which might have been a social burden to the child as a first name, perhaps because it is unusual or indicates a particular cultural background. Surnames are also sometimes used as middle names, usually to honor a relative. A child is sometimes given a middle name that is the first or middle name of one of his or her parents. In the United States, it is also common for a baby boy to be given the same given name as his father, in which case the middle name may be used as if a first name so as to distinguish him from his father. A similar, but rarer practise, is for children to have their mother's maiden name as their middle name. So, Harriet, daughter of John Walker and Laura Walker née Marsay would be called Harriet Marsay Walker. The practice is quite popular in the Southern U.S..

A minority use their middle names and, as with many minorities, suffer some intended or unintended discrimination. For example, many forms in the United States ask for first name and middle initial, when people who prefer their middle name may wish to be known either with a first initial (like J. Harrison Ford), their full name (like John Fitzgerald Kennedy) or simply without the first name at all (Mitt Romney or Paul McCartney). People who choose to be known primarily by their middle name may abbreviate their first name to an initial (e.g. F. Scott Fitzgerald and W. Somerset Maugham). Rarely, individuals may be given only initials as middle names, with the initial(s) not explicitly standing for anything (e.g. Harry S. Truman). This practice is common among the Amish, who commonly use the first letter of the mother's maiden name as a solitary initial for the sons and daughters. Thus, the children of a woman named Sarah Miller would use the middle initial M. The practice of abbreviating middle names to initials is rare in the United Kingdom.

Examples of multiple middle names: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary (Queen Elizabeth II; as a queen, she does not use a surname), J. R. R. Tolkien, George H. W. Bush and V. V. S. Laxman. The British upper classes are traditionally fond of giving multiple middle names, deriving from the German aristocracy's predilection for this, for the obvious reason that the British Royal Family is now of German origin: for example, Prince William (William Arthur Philip Louis), Prince Harry (Henry Charles Albert David), The Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise), and Prince Charles (Charles Philip Arthur George; flubbed by Diana during their wedding as “Philip Charles Arthur George”). In even more extreme examples, British musician Brian Eno's full name is Brian Peter George St. Jean le Baptiste de la Salle Eno; Canadian actors Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas named their son Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland. Often, middle names are names of famous and influential people throughout history, such as well-known baseball pitcher Cal McLish, whose full name is Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish.