https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:58:06 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-2725625 Tue, 18 Apr 2017 08:56:15 +0000 snowjewelz 2725625@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Chinese hear (Cantonese) and I definitely do not have a middle name. When I became a citizen here I made my Chinese name into my middle name that I never use :silly: </p> <p>But both girls have middle names now! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-2725366 Mon, 17 Apr 2017 17:30:31 +0000 ElbieKay 2725366@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Jennibenni: Maybe it's state-specific then. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-2725364 Mon, 17 Apr 2017 17:29:57 +0000 Jennibenni 2725364@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ElbieKay: Nope, I'm in Florida. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-2725361 Mon, 17 Apr 2017 17:20:47 +0000 ElbieKay 2725361@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Jennibenni: Did you get married in NY State? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-2725359 Mon, 17 Apr 2017 17:14:40 +0000 Jennibenni 2725359@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ElbieKay: That's weird, I did exactly what you're describing easily with just marriage paperwork, it was not an issue. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-2725275 Mon, 17 Apr 2017 14:38:20 +0000 ElbieKay 2725275@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have a middle name that I never use. I decided to change my last name to match my husband's when I got married. I wanted to drop my original middle name and make my maiden name my new middle name. However, I was only allowed to change my last name with my marriage paperwork. Changing my middle name would have required jumping through hoops for a legal name change. It was not that important to me, so I just kept my original middle name and dropped my maiden name.</p> <p>My son shares the same middle name as his father, which is also his deceased paternal grandfather's name. This was a pretty easy choice to make since the rest of his grandparents are still alive. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-2725010 Mon, 17 Apr 2017 06:38:36 +0000 erinbaderin 2725010@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Canadian (from Ontario) and everybody I know has middle names. They don't really get used, though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-2724994 Mon, 17 Apr 2017 04:20:30 +0000 FannyMae 2724994@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaMoose: Greeks born in Greece are given their father's name as their middle name, but not as a direct name e.g. George John Smithopoulos (hehe), but in an identifying version, kind of like Yiorgos Ioannou Smithopoulos (George 'belonging to/child of' John). My family is Greek, but I was born in Australia, my baptism certificate has my father's name listed as my middle name. My daughter's have middle names (in English), but on their baptism certificates they are not listed, but their father's name is. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-2724991 Mon, 17 Apr 2017 03:28:48 +0000 SugarplumsMom 2724991@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was about to respond to this but realized I already did :silly: One important aspect I'd forgotten to mention about Filipino names is that we often have our mother's maiden name as part of our middle name. Although I don't technically have a middle name, I carry my mother's maiden name and so does my brother. </p> <p>It would look like this: First name, middle name, mother's maiden name, last name. Most people don't actually go by their whole name, but it's in all the official docs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-2724985 Sun, 16 Apr 2017 23:16:17 +0000 Raspberry 2724985@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My parents were immigrants and did not give me a middle name. DH's middle name is FIL's name and we followed that tradition by giving DH's first name as DS's middle. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-2724974 Sun, 16 Apr 2017 21:41:00 +0000 Manutak 2724974@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Im Brazilian and some people put middle names in their kids, and although it happens a lot, its not the "right" thing. Like when you need to fill up a register you dont have the spaces for "name" "middle name" and "last name". You just have "name" and "last name" (that are usually two).<br /> We dont even call it "middle name", we call "second name". My dad has a middle name but in his Brazilian passport its wrote: (example)<br /> Name: George James<br /> Surname: White Smith</p> <p>I notice that in Brazil generally people with more age are the ones with middle names, cause the majority of old portuguese and spanish descendants i know have middle names.</p> <p>Nowadays some parents make up combos like in the us, but a lot of people think its tashy. When you discover a friend has a horrid middle name (it's usually bad combos) you make fun of them (Brazilians make fun of everything, people dont feel offended by these jokes), even the middle named person bullies him/herself like "why my mother did that to me?" And even make competitions of the "worst middle name" (at least my friends with middle name always do that)</p> <p>But there are some acceptable combos which are the classical ones, usually with Maria and Ana for girls and Jose, João and maybe Luis for boys. You dont think "i like the name Joao, let me see another name i like or a family name to go with it" like in the usa, no, it works as one thing "i like Joao Pedro".</p> <p>The interesting thing is that if a Brazilian have a middle name you will probably know it, the moms call them by the whole name, you will never see a João Pedro be called just by João, everybody calls him João Pedro. It happens mainly with the classical ones because as i have said they are seem as just one thing, a whole name. But even when they have the most weird combination of names they use it, my fathers have his middle name on facebook and maybe 80% of people i know that have middle name use them on facebook, they feel like its just their name as their first name, if you have it, why dont use it? Haha. I love these cultural differences.</p> <p>Sorry for any grammatical error i may have committed :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-125802 Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:22:20 +0000 T.H.O.U. 125802@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We wanted to give LO a middle name in case she didn't like the unique first name we gave her. Her middle name is very feminine while her first name is more unisex. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-125717 Tue, 17 Apr 2012 01:48:27 +0000 looch 125717@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My European husband and all of his sibs have just a first name. My European parents also have just one name, as do I, but my 2 younger brothers have middle names. I think it's more of a modern trend in Europe now to give kids a middle and first, his sibs that have kids have given first/middle, as have we. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-125714 Tue, 17 Apr 2012 01:37:11 +0000 Penny Lane 125714@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm from NZ and I've never met a person in my life who doesn't have a middle name. In fact, it's fairly common for people to have multiple middle names, especially the pacific islanders.</p> <p>For example, one of my good friends in high school literally had 5 middle names. No joke. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-125695 Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:48:43 +0000 cyneswith 125695@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Everyone I know in the UK has a middle name, and I think it's common in France too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-125683 Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:08:17 +0000 His Barista 125683@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Everyone I know has a middle name. A lot of paper work asks for a middle initial too. But I was dead set on DD having the middle name we gave her. So much so that her first name was chosen to go with it. L. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-125643 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:08:04 +0000 aunt pol 125643@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yep all middle names in Ireland too, but it's not like you'd ever know your friends middle names, we don't use them. I had a friend in college called Maryrose and a lot of lecturers used to assume the Rose bit was her middle name and just call her Mary and it drove her nuts. Most of us get an additional name at confirmation too, and that's definitely ornamental rather than used. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-125637 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:41:42 +0000 chopsuey 125637@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Not sure! DH doesn't like middle names, but I really wanted to give our LO the middle name she has. :) If we have a son, he won't have a middle name. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-125604 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:57:23 +0000 cupcakemama 125604@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'n Australian. Most people have middle names here. I know it is much the same in New Zealand and Britain. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-125378 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:25:06 +0000 SugarplumsMom 125378@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't have a middle name and neither does my mom, but everyone in my father's side of the family does. We're Filipino and some of the older generations have really long Spanish names.</p> <p>DH's Swedish and his family all have middle names. Some people even have 3 or even 4 names. I was told that it was really common for the older generation to use their middle name as their first name. So the in-laws and grandparents all went by their middle names. The tradition wasn't as common when DH was born so him and his siblings all use their first names. It's not that big of a deal here because you specify which name you'll use and they bold it in the records and that's pretty much it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-125375 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:22:35 +0000 pastemoo 125375@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>i don't use mine--but i work in a Vietnamese area and they ALL have middle names </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-125362 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:18:28 +0000 tequiero21 125362@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I didn't have a middle name but added it when I got married t legalize my Korean name. My kids have Korean names for middle names. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-124879 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:21:04 +0000 MegWag 124879@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My English husband has a middle name, but neither of his parents did. My husband says his dad used to joke that it was because their parents couldn't afford them.<br /> When we went to register Linus (you have to go downtown to register births and get the birth certificate) we told the registrar Linus' name (first, middle, last) and she specifically asked if we wanted any additional middle names, which I thought was strange. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-124870 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:16:24 +0000 mynoahbear 124870@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No middle names in Japan. LO has a middle name and on all Japanese paperwork, her first name and middle name run together so it's one name. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-124864 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:13:59 +0000 MsMini 124864@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am from Alberta, and the only one I know without a middle name is my Mom (my grandparents couldn't think of anything so just left it out). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-124860 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:11:55 +0000 Jumpingjacks 124860@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In my family middle names are usually given as a namesake for someone else. for example. My middle name is my mom's first name. Her middle name is her grandmother's first name etc. I'm in Canada and most people I know have one or two middle names. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-124847 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:04:06 +0000 mrsjyw 124847@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't have a middle name! I have a traditional Korean first name. And there are no middle names in Korea :)... My mom said she had a nickname (which was altogether different from her legal name), but no such thing as a middle name in Korea.</p> <p>Most of my Korean friends who were born in the states have English first names and their Korean names are their middle names. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-124841 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:03:12 +0000 Mrs. Sunglasses 124841@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mediagirl: Well maybe that was the "rule" back then. Seems like there are so many Marys (older generation) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-124827 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:00:03 +0000 mediagirl 124827@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blushink: Interesting on the Mary+God Mother name. That makes me think of all of my Mom's friends who are named Mary Louise, Mary Jane, Mary Elizabeth, Mary Regina - and go by those names. </p> <p>I don't know about elsewhere but I know my husband and I both have middles. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/middle-names-is-it-just-a-usa-type-of-thing#post-124812 Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:55:54 +0000 oliviaoblivia 124812@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My DH is Canadian and has two middle names. I'm American with Spanish heritage and I have two middle names as well (three now that I'm married). </p>