Middle name

People's names in several cultures include one or more additional names often but not necessarily placed between the first given name and the surname. Middle names can be either given names (as in Anthony Michael Hall) or surnames (as in George Walker Bush).

In some English speaking countries such names are specifically referred to as middle name(s); in most European countries they would simply be regarded as second, third, etc. given names. In some countries there is usually only one middle name, and in the United States it is often abbreviated to the middle initial (e.g. Mary Lee Bianchi becomes Mary L. Bianchi, which is usually standard for signatures) or omitted entirely in everyday use (e.g. just Mary Bianchi). In the United Kingdom she would usually be referred to either as Mary Bianchi, M. L. Bianchi or Mary Lee Bianchi, or she may choose Lee Bianchi, and informally there may be familiar shortenings. An individual may have more than one given name, or none. In some other countries, the term middle name is only used for names that are originally last names, but not part of the last name of the bearer (for instance one can have one's mother's maiden name as a middle name).

It is debatable how long middle names have existed in English speaking countries, but it is certain that among royalty and aristocracy the practice existed by the late 17th century (and possibly earlier), as exemplified in the name of the Stuart pretender James Francis Edward Stuart (1688–1766).

Despite their relatively long existence in North America, the phrase "middle name" was not recorded until 1835 in the periodical Harvardiana.

The use of multiple middle names has been somewhat impeded recently by the increased use of computer databases that occasionally allow for only a single middle name or more commonly a middle initial in storing personal records, effectively preventing people with multiple middle names from being listed in such databases under their full name. This is worsened by longer compound names, like María del Pilar Pereyra or María de las Nieves García. 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.

The abbreviation "N.M.N." (no middle name) or "N.M.I." (no middle initial), with or without periods, is sometimes used in formal documents where a middle initial or name is expected but the person does not have one. The middle name can also be a maiden name.

Since 1905, "middle name" has also developed a figurative usage meaning a notable or outstanding attribute of a person, as in the phrase "discretion is my middle name."

English

In countries that primarily speak English, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom, the forename of a relative is often used as one's middle name to honor familial heritage.

Those who choose to be known primarily by their middle name may abbreviate their first name as an initial, as is with J. Edgar Hoover, or simply without the first name at all, as is with Mitt Romney and Paul McCartney. Rarely, individuals may be given only initials as middle names, with the initial not explicitly standing for anything, as is with Harry S. Truman.

Multiple middle names are common, including those of J. R. R. Tolkien, W.E.B. Du Bois, George H. W. Bush and V. V. S. Laxman. Often, middle names are names of famous and influential people throughout history.

Chinese

Further information: Chinese name, Generation name, Courtesy name, and Art name

Middle names do not traditionally exist for the Chinese people. Most Chinese names consist of three characters – the surname, followed by a two-character given name (ming), which is not separated into a first and middle name in usage. Some Chinese given names contain only one syllable (e.g. Wong Kit). In some cases, two-character given names follow a naming tradition in which the first character of the given name (and thus the second character in the three-character full name) indicates the person's generation in his/her family. For example, the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing dynasty has the given name Yinzhen (胤禛) while his brothers' names all begin with the character "Yin" (胤). His sons' and nephews' given names all begin with the character Hong (弘). Traditionally, the list of generational names may be decided many generations in advance by the ancestors. In such naming systems, the de facto given name is the last character of a person's full name. Even if that was the case most of the time, sometimes the person's given name is the middle character and not the last. The one that's common in all the names of a generation of children of the same gender determines the "generation name".

A fading Chinese tradition is to use a courtesy name, called zì (字) in place of a male's given name in adulthood. Traditionally zì is given by one's father upon reaching the age of maturity at 20 years old. This name is intended for use in formal situations and formal writing and confers a status of adulthood and respect. Like the ming, the zì is composed of two characters which usually reflect the meaning of the ming. Prior to the 20th century, sinicized Koreans, Vietnamese, and Japanese were also referred to by their zì. An alternative courtesy name is the hào (号; 號; hào; Japanese gō; Korean: ho; Vietnamese: hiệu), which usually referred to as the pseudonym. A hào was usually self-chosen and it was possible to have more than one. It had no connection with the bearer's míng or zì; rather it was often a personal choice and may have reflected a personal belief or philosophy. Chinese adults may more frequently use the hào to refer to themselves. The zì or hào can be used independently of the given name and of each other, but the given name is almost always used with the last name in official situations.

Some Chinese Americans move their Chinese given name (transliterated into the Latin alphabet) to the middle name position and use an English first name, e.g. James Chu-yu Soong, Jerry Chih-Yuan Yang, and Michelle Wingshan Kwan. The Chinese given name usually has two characters which are usually combined into a single middle name for better organizational purposes, especially with Cantonese names, such as Bruce Lee's middle name, Junfan. There are also some new immigrants whose Chinese given names are their first names followed by English middle names.

The practice of taking English and Chinese given names is also common in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. However, rather than placing the Chinese given name between the English given name and the family name, it is commonly placed after the family name in these places. Under such a system, Bruce Junfan Lee would have been 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.

Scandinavia

In Denmark and Norway, the term middle name refers to names that are originally surnames, but not part of the last name of the name bearer. The term middle name does not refer to additional given names, which are instead referred to as given names. A middle name could be e.g. one's mother's maiden name or the last name of another recent ancestor (for instance a grandparent). One can have several middle names, but it is unusual to have more than one or two. In law, middle names have a separate status. In practice, their status is similar to that of additional given names, and middle names are often omitted in everyday use, just like a person with 3 or 4 given names would only use one of them in most situations. The historical purpose of middle names is to honour some related family or person, a godparent, or even a completely unrelated person, such as a locally or nationally prominent figure. Until the 19th century, it was not unusual to have the last name of a godparent as one's middle name, even when the godparent was no blood relative. This practice, and the use of middle names in general, however, was mostly limited to the bourgeois class and the nobility, and was seldom seen among common people. In the 20th century, the use of middle names, especially one's mother's maiden name, was more widely adopted, although it is by no means mandatory. There are few set rules for how names are constructed today; people are required to have one given name and one family name, but can have as many additional given names and middle names as they like.

In the example Carl Viggo Manthey Lange, the names Carl and Viggo are given names, while Manthey is a middle name and Lange is the family name. Manthey is his mother's maiden name. Unless his full name is used, he is correctly referred to as Mr. Lange, not as Mr. Manthey Lange. Carl Viggo Manthey Lange has a name typical of the Norwegian bourgeois class, with both his family name and his middle name being of foreign origin and being recognised surnames. Most Norwegians and Danes of the working class and peasant class used patronymics until the 19th century, when permanent family names became mandatory, first in Denmark in the early 19th century and then in Norway around 1900. A middle name is usually a recognised surname and not a patronymic. One reason middle names have become popular in the 20th century, particularly in Denmark, is that most Danish surnames originated as patronymics and are shared by a large number of people. The use of middle names in modern times serves to differentiate them from other people. For example, Danish politician Lars Løkke Rasmussen has some of the most common given and last names in Denmark (Lars and Rasmussen); his mother's maiden name is the slightly more unusual name Løkke, derived from a small agricultural property, so he uses it as a middle name, which differentiates him from other people named Lars Rasmussen.

In Sweden, the position is much the same as in Denmark. Middle names were inaugurated in the previous Name Act of 1963, then called "tilläggsnamn" (additional name), and are called "mellannamn" (middle name) as of the present Name Act of 1983. However, it had previously been more common to join e.g. the last names of both of a child's parents, or for a married woman to join her maiden name and the husband's last name, as a double name with a hyphen; and large portions of the Swedish population have not adapted to the official system to this day, i.e. for almost 50 years. People often use a hyphen between their middle name and last name themselves, and/or are spelled that way by other people. Not even mass media know things correctly, but contribute to misinterpretations.

Furthermore, when the term middle name was introduced in Swedish ("mellannamn") the word was assumed by many to mean the additional given names (apart from the "name of address" (tilltalsnamn)), so since 1983 the word is being used more and more in this, officially, erratic meaning.

Occasionally, Scandinavians choose to use their middle name as their surname in everyday life. So Per Gottfrid Svartholm Warg has Per and Gottfrid as his given names, where Gottfrid, not Per, is his name of address, Svartholm as his middle name and Warg as his last name, but in practice he uses Svartholm as a surname. This usage, however, is unofficial. Historically, a middle name could become part of a double-barreled surname (family name) and hence cease to be a middle name, especially if used for several generations. There are many family names of this kind, which contributes to the confusion about middle names that shall not be hyphenated. Some of these double-barreled surnames are combined with a hyphen, while others are not, so a double surname without a hyphen can sometimes be indistinguishable from a middle name followed by a family name.

In Scandinavia, there is no limit on how many given names one can have. Given names have never been referred to as middle names, apart from many in Sweden believing so, as mentioned above. The use of more than two or three given names is generally associated with the upper class. The first given name is not necessarily the name of address. For the sake of completeness, Swedish forms often ask people to fill in all their given names and to indicate which one is their "name of address" (tilltalsnamn).

Southeast Asia

Philippines

In the Philippines, the middle name is used exclusively to refer to the mother's maiden surname. For example, Juan Roxas Cruz considers Roxas, his mother's maiden surname, to be his middle name. In ancient pre-Hispanic Philippines the use of middle names was rare, as this was adopted from Spanish conventions. The older (and still used in legal contexts) method of writing it would be, Juan Cruz y Roxas, which is a reverse of the conventional Anglicised format.

This format also applies to people whose father or mother is not Filipino, particularly from countries where naming conventions are different, for example, Ray Anthony Jónsson and Stephan Schröck. If the naming convention of their fathers' countries (Iceland, Germany) were applied, then Jónsson and Schröck would not have a middle name, and the former would be referred to by his first name Ray only (applicable in Icelandic convention). A few Filipinos choose not to use this convention, applying Western conventions instead. The middle initials of the names such as Manuel L. Quezon and Benigno S. Aquino III stand for their second names Luis and Simeon respectively, not their middle names Molina and Cojuangco. If Filipino naming conventions were applied, then they would be known instead as Manuel Luis Molina Quezon and Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III.

Thailand

In Thailand, middle names are not common. Thai people usually give a child a long first name, which usually has a meaning. Additionally, most Thai children are also given nicknames, which are usually one or two syllables. Some Thai persons use middle name to refer to the mother's maiden surname, or woman's surname at birth that has been replaced or changed.

Thai people are generally known by their nicknames; public figures such as politicians and actors are often referred to by their first names. Surnames are only rarely used in everyday speech. For example, Chatchai Plengpanich a male actor whose nickname is "Nok" will be unofficially referred as "Nok Chatchai".

Vietnam

Further information: Vietnamese name

Traditional middle names in Vietnamese are "Văn" for male names and "Thị" for female names. However, modern Vietnamese consider these are not beautiful names, especially "Thị". Therefore, nowadays popular middle names also are popular first names. Middle names play an important role in Vietnamese full names; they could help creating beautiful names when combine with first names, distinguishing people who have the same first name (there are many common last names in Vietnam), and also distinguishing the gender of the names (unisex names are used widely in Vietnam). Hence, Vietnamese rarely abbreviate their middle names.

South Asia

In Nepal, the first initial is frequently a family name assigned to every member of a particular family, and is usually in addition to the last name. It is carried by every member of the paternal family. For example, Ram Baran Yadav can be broken down into Yadav, the Nepalese surname; Baran, the family name; Ram, the first name.

Rajputs use Singh or Kumar as their middle name.

Sikh men, who for religious reasons are supposed to be named Singh as their surname, sometimes instead take Singh as their middle name, such as Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, better known as Monty Panesar. Sikh women, who for similar reasons normally take the surname Kaur, may likewise take it as a middle name: a notable example is Parminder Kaur Nagra.

In Tamil Nadu, the first initial is normally the place of birth, and is followed by the middle name, i.e. father's and/or mother's name and then the first name of the individual and then finally the caste/community name. For example, Morappakkam Vedachalam Sivakumaran Pillai. Here, Sivakumaran is his first name; Morappakkam is the place where he was born; his father's name is Vedachalam; and his caste/community is called Pillai.

In the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra in India, the middle name is the father's or husband's first name. Examples are Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, a famous Indian Cricketer and Narendra Damodardas Modi who is the former Chief Minister of Gujarat and current Prime Minister of India. Some people, such as Sanjay Leela Bhansali, use their mother's name as a middle name.

In Pakistan, in some tribes, Khan is used as a common middle name, followed by their tribe's name as their last name. For example, Khushal Khan Khattak, Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Feroz Khan Noon. Other than Khan, Syed and in many instances Muhammad is appended before the given name in males. This sometimes qualifies as a complete name, hence, last name is skipped altogether.

See also

• Icelandic name
• Roman naming conventions
• Personal name

External links

• The Power and Peril of the Middle Name from BBC News