His name is longer than he is: The reasoning behind two middle names

When, I was a middle-schooler I became friends with a young lady with three middle names. A bit excessive I thought, but her whole name was so fun to say that I didn’t think much of it. She is the only person I know for certain who had more than the standard form of name, i.e. first name, middle name, last name. Five years ago, I started wondering and contemplating using two middle names for any future off-spring. I was pretty sure that I probably wouldn’t have more than one or two children, and wanted to make sure they would have a name to honor both halves of my family tree. So I started playing with combinations and came up with a few that appealed to me. My son did end up with two middle names. One is after my paternal grandfather & the other is from my maternal grandmother. Should I have any more children the same will be true for them, potentially giving further rise to the sentiment expressed by my mother when my son was born, “His name is longer than he is.” In fact his name is 5 characters longer than he was in inches, and yet is only 3 characters longer than my standard name.

Since deciding to give my child two middle names, I have noticed that it isn’t as uncommon as one might think. Many of the Fredder children have two middle names, and some celebrities have used it (Apple Blythe Allison Martin, comes to mind). Yet, every once in awhile someone will post on the name boards asking about using two middle names, whether or not it seems excessive and what do you do when filling out a form that only allows one middle initial. Respondents are generally split 50/50 on whether or not it is excessive or even desirable. When some ask for opinions on a double-barreled middle name, they are frequently encouraged to drop the second one. Sometimes the reason is excess and other times it is seen as pretentious. My favorite reason of all is that it could cause problems in school when the child has to learn to spell his name. And yet the practice continues. It isn’t for old money families or royalty. It is for families who have a lot of relatives to honor, women who want to keep their maiden names, families who want to pass a double last name down without hyphenating, and those who just can’t decide when the baby is born which name they like better and so use both.

So what do I do with that middle initial on forms? Generally I leave it blank. Has having two middle name caused my son insurmountable difficulty in school? Well, he is just starting pre-school this fall. We aren’t quite to the writing stage yet. That said, it has floored one or two people when he comes up to them and says, “I don’t know who you are. My name is fn mn mn ln.” He knows his name and rarely introduces himself by just his first name. He is a smart cookie. It will come. In the meantime, I know that I have given him a name rich in history and family significance. That means something.

Betty

I’m Betty. Thirtysome-odd years ago, I bestowed the dull if classic handle “Bunny” upon a blue stuffed rabbit who, bless his heart, forgave me this rather uninspired first foray into naming.

From this humble beginning, I’ve developed an abiding interest in the names of people, words, streets, pets and inanimate objects, and have diversified my tastes extensively. Now mother to children NOT named “Boy”, “Other Boy,” or “Baby on the Way,” I am a student of name trends and their socioeconomic and demographic implications, and a bit of a fetishist on the subject.

My personal penchant is for names with a history that still ‘fit’ into the era in which they’re being used. I scour cross-cultural mythologies, literature, history books, and obscure song lyrics looking for names that have caché both in the present and across the time-space continuum. I like recognizable names and standard spellings, but if a name suddenly pops across my radar more than ten times in a year, I begin to yawn.

I’m drawn to the quirky and unusual, the just-about-to-break-the-big-leagues. If I like a name, you can pretty much be guaranteed that it’ll be way cool for a few years, and – for name fetishists like me, at least – a wee bit tired in ten. And by then, I’ll be loving on something utterly new…but still classic.