How did you choose a middle name?

[JuliaGulia]

Hi,

I need a bit of help...

I'm really finding it hard to pick middle names! How did you decide?

We're expecting boy/girl twins in a couple of weeks so I've got to think of one of each asap.

I'm not sure whether to:

• name after a grand parent/family member (despite its un/popularity),
• name after a person of today I admire (so I can say you were named after this inspirational person)
• just pick something I like.

In reality middle names are rarely used but I don't want to miss an opportunity to make a statement.

Friends have recently chosen middle names after the father but after Kai Wayne Rooney I was sligtly put off! Others have picked names with a special meaning like places their babies were conceived etc but 'bedroom' is not on my wish list!

Just interested in your thought process really.

Thanks!

[mckenzie]

Many congratulations on your large bump.

DS has my late father's middle name as his middle name.
DD has my middle name as her middle name.

[BooHooMonkey]

DS has my Dad's name as middle name(which I have as my middle name too!) DD has MIL's name as middle. Luckily, we liked both these names in their own right, but I do think it is nice to use family names.

[mckenzie]

sorry, I should have given the reasons.

DS - because my father died years ago and this is my little bit of him.
DD - she gets DH's surname and so i wanted her to have something of mine!

[skidoodle]

Dd1 - my granny
dd2 - dh's mum

[katiepotatie]

Our dd was born on my dh's aunts birthday, she sadly passed away before she was born, so it seemed like it was meant to be, it went with her chosen name beautifuly.
Our ds middle name is my maiden name and can be used as a surname or a first name. His has a nice ring to it too. You could just give them one name, you already have to think of two since it's twins

[Shitemum]

DD1 - got DPs first choice of first name as her middle name
DD2 - has DP's Mum's name as her middle name and the Mediterranean version of my mum's name (which she never uses) as her first name.

[MrsKitty]

DS has a different spelling of my Dad's name (Dad is Alister, DS middle name is Alistair) - Chose different spelling as I prefer it.

DD would have had my Grandmas name as a middle name (and she died last year) but the name has bad associations for DH (and for me to an extent) so instead her middle name is after one of DS's favourite TV Characters as he's so adorable when he says it, and it's also a lovely name!

[LowLevelWhingeing]

Grandparents' names here too. One of these I would never have used as a first name due to nn options (Francis) but it sounds nice in the full name.

[MaggieTaSeFuar]

It was my mum's middle name. I liked that. I wouldn't have used my mum's first name though. too ugly! my son's mn is my dad's first name, which sounds unfair. but my mum wouldn't have wanted me to use her name.

[TheMoistWorldOfSeptimusQuench]

Paternal grandmother's name - Elizabeth

We weren't going to bother with a middle name, but I was lying there in a post birth off-my-head-haze and thought for a minute that it was a good idea as she could shorten or adapt it to suit if she didn't like her first name

My mum, on retirement, changed her name to her middle name because she'd always preferred it. Everyone (except my dad!) has completely adapted and thinks nothing of it - in fact, it suits her far better than her original christian name. I think it's nice to give them the option.

Good luck with your babies

[Ziggurat]

DS1 has my uncle's name as a middle (and DH's uncle's name as his first name).

If this baby is a girl, she'll have DH's Mum's name as a middle and my Mum's name as her first.

If we have another boy, I am toying with suggesting my surname, minus the Mc as middle name, as a way of carrying that on (my brother is gay ). Haven't put it to DH yet, though.

[meltedmarsbars]

Versions of family names as middle names. We made sure they could be used as first names if child wanted to later.

[SE13Mummy]

DD1 - my Grannie's name (she has since died ut knew DD1 and was thrilled that she had been given her name).

DD2 - Hope; slightly cheesy but we'd had lots of failed pregnancies, were told we were unlikely to have another baby and had given up all hope of doing so... DD2 was a very welcome surprise and Hope seemed appropriate.

[MrsJohnDeere]

We picked names that we liked but didn't quite like enough for first names, and also wanted fairly ordinary or traditional names so that the dcs could choose to use them at some point if they decided that they hated their first names.

[Tillyscoutsmum]

DD's middle name is a character in a book we both love. We considered using it as first name but weren't quite brave enough (DD is Matilda Scout C.........)

DS has two middle names. One is just a name we liked and again considered as a first name (but decided it was too popular). It also "went" really well with the first name. His second middle name is after a cycling hero of DH's. He won a race at about the time DS was conceived and we had joked that if we conceived that month, we would use the name. I thought it was a teeny bit naff (the sentiment more than the name itself) so compromised on it being a second middle name (DS is Fergus Alexander Cavendish C.........)

[amidaiwish]

my dds have:

• DD1 my mum's name as middle name
• DD2 my MIL's name as middle name

i think it is nice for it to have a "meaning" or family link. both are not v popular names these days, but not strange iykwim. even if they were strange i would have done it anyway.

my colleague at work had the best middle name "BALTHAZAR". i always called him that after i found out, it suited him.

[Hassled]

I've used the DCs' grandparents' names as middle names. Only exception was with DC4 - DH's father's name is one we both really dislike, so we used his father (i.e. DH's grandfather)'s name instead.

[GoldenSnitch]

DS has his Daddy's name as his middle name, partially because it goes so well with his first name, partially because we couldn't think of anything else we liked better and partially because DH's name is a saints name and DS was born on that saints day - a bit like being born on St George's Day and being called Firstname George Surname.

DD has the name DH wanted to name her as her middle name. I talked him round to the name I wanted for her first name

[Jamieandhismagictorch]

DS1 - my dad's name (his first name is also a variant of my FILs name, and my brother's name)

DS2 - our best friend's name, and the name of my cousin

That said, I don't think I could have chosen a name I truly hated for a middle name, even if I wanted to honour a friend or family member.

[Vintagepommery]

DD1 - picked something relatively unusual that we thought went well. Also, she can put her two names together if she wants to call herself that when older.

DD2 - another unusual name but also a name that's in my family going back a couple of generations.

would have gone for DHs family middle name if had had boys. But it is a name I like.

[sockmonkey]

DS1 has DH's first name & great grandfathers name (2 middle names!!)
DS2 middle name after my favourite Python/world traveller
DD1 A name I liked (heard on Fireman Sam )

[Jamieandhismagictorch]

sockmonkey - Elvis ?????????

[IWillNotNeverEatATomato]

We went for family names for the middle names,
DP's dad's name and my dad's middle name for DS1
and DP's brothers name for DS2

(However mainly because they flow well with the first name)

[diddl]

Son has same middle name as his Dad & GF.
Daughter same middle name as my Gran.

Wouldn´t have used them if I didn´t like them, though!

[KnottyLocks]

We decided on both DSs middle names before their first names.

DS1 - named after a character in a book we love who has admirable principles
DS2 - named after a RL man of principle who both DH and I admire.

DH's middle name is his mother's maiden name, following their family tradition.