Middle name
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This article or section deals primarily with the United States and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
Many people's names include one or more middle names, placed between the first given name and the surname. In the West, a middle name is effectively a second given name. In the Anglosphere there is usually only one middle name, often abbreviated by its possessor to the middle initial or omitted entirely in everyday use.
Despite their relatively long existence in the Western world, the phrase "middle name" was not recorded until 1835 in Harvardiana, a periodical of the time. Since 1905, "middle name" gained a figurative connotation meaning a notable or outstanding attribute of a person. This figurative use is especially popular in films.
The use of multiple middle names has been somewhat impeded recently by the increased use of computer databases that allow for only a single middle name or more commonly a middle initial in strong personal records, effectively depriving persons with multiple middle names of the ability to be listed in such databases under their full name. Especially in the case of government records and other databases that are used for legal purposes, this phenomenon has sometimes been criticized as a form of discrimination against people who carry multiple middle names for cultural or religious reasons. However, it should be noted that this phenomenon is largely limited to English speaking countries since the different tradition in other western countries generally resulted in the development of databases which are able to handle more than one middle name.
In the United States, the middle initial is sometimes used in place of the middle name on identity documents, passports, driver licenses, social security cards, university diplomas, and other official documents. Examples of this form include George W. Bush and John D. Rockefeller. The abbreviation "NMN" (no middle name) or "NMI" (no middle initial) is sometimes used in formal documents where a middle initial or name is expected when the person does not have one.
Many people are not known by their first forename. This is often referred to as "being known by the middle name". In this case, wherever an additional initial is called for, the initial of the first name is used and the middle name is spelled fully. Examples of this form include G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt.
In movies, the middle name is sometimes used to express a certain character trait. For example, a character who is about to enter a dangerous situation on purpose might say, "Danger is my middle name." This has been used so much that it has come to be regarded as a cliché.
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[edit] Western
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This article or section deals primarily with the English-speaking world and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
Middle names are often chosen by parents at the same time as the first name. Popular middle names are identical to those of first names, such as John, James, David, etc., with an emphasis on biblical figures (again, like first names).
In the United States and United Kingdom, a male's middle name is sometimes his father's first or middle name. Alternatively, a male's first name may be the same as his father's, in which case the middle name may be used as if a first name so as to distinguish him from his father. People who are known primarily by their middle name sometimes abbreviate their first name, rather than their middle name, to an initial (e.g. F. Scott Fitzgerald and H. Ross Perot, although Perot later dropped the initial).
American Southerners are sometimes referred to familiarly by both their first and middle names, such as Billy Bob and Betty Barb, which may be shortened to initials, BB. (However, many boys who are called "DJ," "RJ," etc. are often not abbreviating their middle name but "Junior" since they were named after their father.) Both in the North and South, it's common to shorten females' names like Mary Alice or Mary Jane to M.A. or M.J. because the name Mary is very popular.
Some middle names sound antiquated because they are chosen from those of the family's ancestors, as the parents may have chosen them by glancing over the family tree.
Aside from the most popular middle names taken from first names, surnames (such as Hall or Walker) may also be taken as middle names, sometimes to commemorate a relative. For example, it is quite common to use the mother's maiden name as the middle name as a way to acknowledge the mother's (and maternal grandparents') family name.
Sometimes in popular references, only the first letter is used (e.g., John A. Macdonald), or the middle names are unmentioned (Herbert Hoover). Occasionally, while the middle is given in full, only the first letter of the first name is used (e.g., W. Somerset Maugham) or unmentioned (e.g., Paul McCartney whose first name is James). Rarely, individuals are given only initials as middle names, with the initial(s) not explicitly standing for anything (e.g., Harry S. Truman). However, 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 Sarah Miller would use the middle initial M.
Examples of multiple middle names: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary (Queen Elizabeth II), J. R. R. Tolkien, George H.W. Bush and V. V. S. Laxman. The British upper classes are traditionally fond of taking multiple middle names; for example, William Arthur Philip Louis, Henry Charles Albert David, or Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise. In even more extreme examples, British musician Brian Eno's full name is Brian Peter George St. Jean le Baptiste de la Salle Eno, and 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 infamous full name is Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish.
It is also possible for a person to have no middle name. In case a person has no middle name, or has only a middle initial, forms requiring a middle name may have "NMI" (No Middle Initial) or the remark "Initial Only" filled in instead.
Particularly in parts of Europe, such as Italy, Scandinavia and the German speaking countries it's not unusual for a person to have a given name and a surname, only. Nevertheless, many persons in these countries do have middle names, and those who do relatively often have more than one, especially in Austria, Italy and southern Germany. In German, the first middle name is called zweiter Vorname, which literally means second forename, while the German term Zwischenname, literally middle name, actually is an umbrella term for middle names, patronyms and metronyms. Most middle names in the German speaking world are given or middle names from ancestors within the maternal part of the family. The use of the first or a middle name of the father or names of famous and influential histroric people as middle name is also common. Middle initials, however, are downright rarely used. One of the very few exceptions is German TV personality Johannes B. Kerner.
[edit] Arab
Arabic people do not use the middle name. See Arabic name. The usual fashion is to mention the given name, then Ibn or Bint (son of/daughter of) then the name of the father and so on. In recent years the word Ibn and Bint has been omitted and the given name followed by the father's name followed by the grandfather's name are listed without any mark between them.
This practice may seem to those not accustomed to it as if it is the given name followed by the middle name followed by the family. Some Arab immigrants to Western countries use their father's name as a middle name
[edit] Catholic
For Catholics, during preparation for the Confirmation sacrament, the candidate for Confirmation usually chooses a saint to research and eventually makes that saint's name part of his/her name. The saint's name is put after his/her middle name, if indeed a middle name was given.
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Males in some predominantly Catholic communities (mostly Bavarian — but almost never other German — Belgian, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish Catholics) are sometimes given what would otherwise be considered a female given name, especially the name Marie or Maria (famous examples being Rainer Maria Rilke and Erich Maria Remarque). In France, the most common case is to give a compound first name, such as Jean-Marie or, more rarely, André-Marie or Bernard-Marie; more rarely, Marie is used as third or subsequent given name. Females, too, are often given compound names which feature male given names, i.e. Marie-Pierre, or Marie-Georges. See French names for more details on naming practices in France.
Hispanic females, conversely, sometimes have the middle name José. This is particularly common in Roman Catholic families. Therefore, the name "María José" is a common female name, while "José María" is a common male name, such as with PGA Tour golfer José María Olazábal.
The use of such names is primarily a cultural issue, rather than a religious issue. There is no Church teaching regarding such names.
In many English-speaking countries and in German-speaking lands it is customary for a person being confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church to adopt a Confirmation name, that may be used as a second middle name, and is without effect in civil law, unless, of course, the confirmand pursues the appropriate legal avenues.
In Malta, a person is given a first name, which is used in official documents. This name would be also the name given on Baptism. Custom has it that that one has two godparents, and these choose a name each. These names are generally not officialised, but are recognised by the Church. These are then used as middle names. For example if the parents choose Noel as a first name, and the god parents choose David and Luke, surname being Dimech, the child is therefore named Noel David Luke Dimech. A common choice for godparent names used to be the name of an important person such as an ancestor, great grandparents, etc. However, most of the times these names are not even remembered by their holders and are referred to only if another person has the same first and last name, eg.: Noel D. Dimech.
[edit] East Asian
- Further information: Chinese name, Korean name, Japanese name, and Generation name
Some Chinese have only one syllable in their given name (e.g. Wong Kit); they have no middle position in their full name and thus no middle name. (See also Chinese name, Korean name, Japanese name)
Most Chinese Americans use their Chinese given name (transliterated into the Latin alphabet) and convert it to an authentic middle name, after a native English first name, such as Bruce Junfan Lee, James Chu-yu Soong, Jerry Chih-Yuan Yang, and Michelle Wingshan Kwan. The Chinese given name usually has two characters and it is usually combined into "one" middle name for better organizational purposes, especially with Cantonese names, such as Bruce Junfan Lee or Bruce J. Lee. There are also some new immigrants whose Chinese given names are their first names, and have English middle names.
The practice of taking English and Chinese given names is also common in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, although rather than placing the Chinese given name between the English given name and the family name, it is commonly placed after the family name. For example, Bruce Junfan Lee would be Bruce Lee Junfan. This practice is consistent with both the Western convention of putting the given name before the family name and the Chinese convention of putting the given name after the family name.
[edit] Southeast Asian
In Vietnam, the middle names sometimes distinguish between the sexes. Vietnamese middle names are often not used, especially among males.[citation needed] In a 1988 study, 22% of Vietnamese males had no middle name.[citation needed]
In the Philippines, the middle name is exclusively used to refer to the mother's maiden surname. For example: Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralín Marcos, in which Edralín, his mother's maiden surname, is the middle name. Almost no one uses middle name to refer to the second given name.
In Thailand, middle names are not common. Thai people usually give a child a long first name, which usually has beautiful meaning attached. Additionally, most Thai kids are also given nick names, which are usually one to two syllables.
[edit] South Asian
Many Indo-Aryan clans keep the middle name as Lal, this title can also be found as an surname however more common as an middle-name. (an notable example is (i.e Amar Lal Kumar), this usage is common in Hindustan as well.
Sikh males, for religious reasons are supposed to be named Singh, usually as their surname, sometimes instead take Singh as their middle name. Sikh females, who for similar reasons normally take the surname Kaur, may also take it as a middle name instead (one notable example is Parminder Kaur Nagra).
After South Indian women marry, they change their middle names to their husbands' first names.
In Tamil Nadu, South India, the babies will have their father's first name as their last name. There is no family name here. After marriage, the women will also get their husband’s first name as their last name. Thus, the head of the family provides the last name for the other members.
In the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra in India, the middle name is father's or husband's first name, though some people like Sanjay Leela Bhansali use the mother's name as middle name.
[edit] East Slavic names
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This section may not provide balanced geographical coverage on Slavic countries. An editor has expressed concern that this section is biased. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
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There is no middle name in personal names in the cultures associated with the Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian languages. Such names consist of three parts: given name, patronymic, and last name. This tradition was also imposed onto people of other descent, both in the Russian Empire (e.g., Adam Johann von Krusenstern is known in Russia as "Ivan Fyodorovich Kruzenshtern") and in the Soviet Union (with certain exceptions). The patronymic in such names is sometimes confused for the middle name, since it is often rendered with the middle initial (e.g., Vladimir V. Putin).
