No middle name?

[Nadine]

Would you consider NOT giving your baby a middle name?
Another spinoff to this question is: how come middle names are that common?

[Nadine]

We called Yumi Benjamin because we both liked the name and its meaning. We gave him a middle name (Shlomo = Salomon) to honor my DH's great grandfather.
With Shoham, we just chose a name with a meaning we liked. We didn't give her a middle name. Why? I am not really sure. I guess politics were involved. We didn't want to name her after certain people and didn't like (understatement) the other names.

[Mandi]

I can't imagine naming a child without a middle name. To me it's part of the fun.

Both of the girls have names that are family names. Micayla Marie... Micayla after her daddy and my uncle (both Michael) and Marie after my granny & DH's Mom (both Mary)

Melayna Jo... Melayna has no significant meaning. We just loved it. Jo is after me, my mom, and my grandma who all have that name.

[Brandi]

I don't think I would even think of giving my children no middle names. It's just another name you get to pick. For us, both kids have a middle name that is a special family name - so it's very meaningful to us. I think it's common because that's just the way it's been for a long long time.

[SarahK]

My grandma gave only one of her seven children a middle name...and she only gave that one a middle name so that she could have a saint as a part of her name the way all of her siblings did.

[Cazzle]

Middle names are the rule rather than the exception. Having too many or two few names can cause the same sorts of headaches for a child that unusual spellings or gender non-specific names can. Therefore, one argument for middle names is that they are "the norm" and are expected.

Another good reason that some choose to give a middle name is to allow a compromise if they're having trouble agreeing on a name. If both parents are stuck on different names for the child, giving two names allows them to each have input.

A third reason is to use family names without creating namesakes. For instance, I love my Grandmother's name Rose as a middle name, but I do not like it as a given name... I think it's too old for a small child and too old fashioned for a teenager, and also it's very strongly associated with my Grandmother so I can't imagine someone else having her name. However, as a middle name it would be used infrequently enough that hearing it would still always bring a memory of Grandma to mind and it sounds much prettier when complimented by a more contemporary name before it. Another situation that it's good for is living namesakes - because Graeme is only his middle name we never get my brother and my father confused, but my brother is still named after my father while also having a given name of his own. I like that as a family historian too - makes my job easier if people stick to family names!

Finally, I just think it can be asthetically pleasing. Sometimes an attractive name can sound even nicer when paired with the right middle name. Differing syllable lengths sound good paired together, so a middle name gives you more opportunity to play with that.

There's exceptions to every rule. Sometimes no middle name is appropriate. Sometimes two middle names are better than one. In general, one middle name is good for most people because most people have one middle name.

[Eva]

Niether my Mom or my MIL has a middle name but I think I like having 2 names and wouldn't think of not giving my child one. I don't think it is a neccessity though.

[Bev]

We would always give our child a middle name. No reason really, but I think it is more common than not to have one. My Gramma didn't have one and I think it bothered her.