We all have them - those of us not from Yorkshire anyway. But when has your middle name ever been any use to you? My children have them. but mostly for the sake of form. I used to style myself by my initials - two given and one surname - but only ever use two these days, along with everyone else I know and work with.
In another fifty years, will we still be giving our children names they never use?
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I have known a few people who go by their middle name rather than first name, usually when their first name is `why did my parents think that was a good idea?` kind of name.
My granddad was known by his middle name, but he was an Irishman living in Yorkshire with the middle name Patrick.
Middle initials mostly serve as a way to distinguish yourself from other people with the same name, often in email addresses such as JohnASmith@example.com.
Both Mrs Nut and her sister's middle names are their Grandmothers First names (one from each Grandmother) and are both names that are `we wanted a boy` names.
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>> But when has your middle name ever been any use to you?
On this forum ! :-)
I am known by many names due to various situations during my careers.
I respond to them with no problems.
I was very glad I had a middle name when I found myself in an unusual situation for several years.
I worked with another guy with the same given and family name AND on the same telephone extension number. Fortunately we had a different middle name.
Eventually, in the office, I was usually referred to by my middle name.
We all use both initials as do my children including signatures.
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I'm known by both my names...
My family call me by my middle name, other people by my 1st name.
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My middle name is my fathers christian name, and his fathers, and his fathers before him. My son has the same middle name. Its a crap name but a bit of tradition.
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I'm known by middle name, I hate being called by my first name by people/organisations that assume its use.
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>> I hate being called by my first name by people/organisations
>> that assume its use.
>>
I hate that and I am known by my first name. Why is an insurance company rep calling me by my first name? I know it's meant to sound friendlier but it comes across to me as rude and trying to sound friendly to get my custom. It has the opposite affect, makes me not want to have anything to do with them.
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We gave our son three forenames so he could play first class cricket. It turned out that there were other requirements, so he hasn't.
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The only one that I ever thought was right was George W Bush.
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Fun pub quiz question - what was Harry S Truman's middle name?
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Harold? My guess based on it probably being a trick question.
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Harry's middle name was 'S' - just added it to make his name sound better.
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Yeah, George Warcriminal Bush and his partner in crime Anthony Charles Lynton Blair.
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Funnily enough, I miss the initials from the world of P.B.H. May, A.P.E. Knott and even A.R.C. Fraser and P.C.R. Tufnell. Plain old A. Strauss and G. Swann seem a bit - well - plain by comparison. W.P.U.J.C. Vaas, anyone?
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>> We all have them
Nope. Perhaps that's what's been holding me back?
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I have two 'middle' names, which has always irritated me as:
1. They are a pain to complete on official forms and
2. Two out of my three are spelt wrong on my birth certificate.
There is a purpose to the middle name though. For example, I have two clients, father and son, both called Mr Fred A Bloggs, who both like to be called Fred. Thankfully their middle names are different, so they are referred to in the office as Fred Arthur Bloggs and Fred Andrew Bloggs as needs be.
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So.... if you have a Christian name, and (say) two middle names before your surname, could you legally call yourself by your first middle name as Christian name, and second middle name as surname?
s.g
Mr . Ian John Paul Smith / Mr John Paul.
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Yes. You can legally call yourself by any name you like. You just have to be consistent and not be doing it with intent to commit fraud, impersonation, etc.
I have two middle names, most of my family do, the children have two or three.
Both I and my father hated our first names and always used our second.
Having more names gives children more options of using a name they like.
Also it may be traditional to incorporate family names, either permanently down the generations or evolving and rotating with each generation. It can be a little bit like the Chinese system of having a clan name as well as a family name. We have a middle name originally a surname dating from a marriage in 1868.
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>> We all have them - those of us not from Yorkshire anyway. But when has
>> your middle name ever been any use to you?
I had two work colleagues in the same office with the same first names and surnames, but with different second names. If someone rang up and asked to speak to one of them they had to be asked which one they wanted. The usual way was to refer to their respective physique. On one occasion the caller replied "The squat chap" and from then on his nickname became "Squat Chap".
I invariably use both given name initials, especially after I found there was an entry in the telephone directory of someone with the same first initial and surname as mine.
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I have no middle name same as my brother.My father had a middle name.I was named after my mothers father which caused controversy with my fathers family.The chap who used to service our gas boiler liked my first name.When his son was born he has my first name as his middle name.Strange world.
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Two middle names, which results in needing 31 spaces to write it all down. But as above, I dislike being called by my first name (mustn't say Christian name these days, very un-pc) without permission. It's about at the same level of dislike as being called "mate"; low but present.
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>> ......... first name (mustn't say Christian name these
>> days, very un-pc) .........
I googled for "christian names" and there were lots of hits. What's sauce for the goose etc.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 17 Apr 12 at 10:20
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Ok, un-pc where I work then.
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>> Ok, un-pc where I work then.
>>
I don't let other people dictate what I can or cannot say.
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>> days, very un-pc) without permission. It's about at the same level of dislike as being
>> called "mate"; low but present.
So what do you like being called as an all inclusive non introduced moniker?
I have in the past used, Mate, mush, gov, charlie, chief.
The last one is my current one.
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I have to really stop myself calling people "bud" or "buddy". I hate it but just comes out sometimes. I spent a lot of time around Americans at one time and somehow that little thing must have stuck. Quite embarrassing.
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I found myself using "guys" in the American manner to include females. Funny how these things stick.
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Squire is a good one - nicely patronising and sure to irritate the pompous.
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>>If someone rang up and asked to speak to one of them they had to be asked which one they wanted.
>>The usual way was to refer to their respective physique
>>
We had " Is it the tall balding one who plays football or the other one ?"
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I knew a geezer when I was taking silk who had a double-barrelled name, we referred to him as shotgun.
;}
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>> I knew a geezer when I was taking silk who had a double-barrelled name, we
>> referred to him as shotgun.
>>
I may have to borrow that.
My sister in law is getting married later this year and intends to have a double-barreled name.
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Shotgun wedding then is it T/N.
:)
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>> My sister in law is getting married later this year and intends to have a
>> double-barreled name.
>>
We had a girl at work who had a double-barrelled name but she was never called, or referred to, by the bit after the hyphen.
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>> We had a girl at work who had a double-barrelled name
I hate double-barrelled first names. I simply won't use them, male or female.
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>>
>> I hate double-barrelled first names. I simply won't use them, male or female.
>>
It seems to work with foreigners - Jean-Paul Satre or Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber come to mind.
But not Americans (Tracy-Lou anyone?)
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I quite like double-barrelled names: Wirral Thompson, Parker Bowels, Anthony Edgewood Bend :)
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I dont have a middle name, but ive been called a few in my time
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>> It seems to work with foreigners - Jean-Paul Satre or Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber come to mind.
>> But not Americans ...........
A lot of Americans are called by both their given names. Examples which springs to mind are Jerry Lee Lewis, Linda Gale Lewis, Billy Lee Riley, Myra Gale Brown, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, ..........
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 17 Apr 12 at 17:15
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I like the name Jean-Paul Belmondo.A French actor I believe doing his own stunts.
Even better Brigitte Bardot no middle name but what a looker.>:)
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>>Brigitte Bardot no middle name but<<
I could suggest one or two ;)
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I know a chap with first name St. John, pron. Sinjun. Almost everybody calls him Singe.
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A bit of trivia - Paul Macartney's real name is James Paul Macartney.
On another note, I've recently heard of a website which enables people to change their name by Deed Poll to one name such as 'John'.
Can you imagine what a phone directory would look like if everyone went down that route?!
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Brother in Law used to closely guard his middle name....
.....we knew it began with an F but we never could find out until his wedding when everyone had a smile when he had to say his vows and we found out the macho firefighters middle name was Florence.....
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my friend had a middle name he also gaurded and at his wedding we found out it was Wallis
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Got to be careful with middle names. Guy I was at school with had two. Unfortunately for him but much to our delight, his initials spelled P.I.G.S.
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>> Got to be careful with middle names. Guy I was at school with had two.
>> Unfortunately for him but much to our delight, his initials spelled P.I.G.S.
>>
Yep, I was lucky there; my initials are KRS, and my mother had originally intended to call me Alan.....
.... and whilst we're on the subject of middle names and mothers, did anyone else's blood freeze when you were summoned by BOTH of your forenames? ;-)
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My father sometimes used the expression Samuel Herbert Ibbotson Townend instead of a rude word. I used to imagine this presumably fictional man carrying a briefcase with his initials on it.
People do give their children names you wouldn't necessarily want. When as a youth I worked in a bank and we had a customer called Peter Brain. As was customary he was issued with a cheque book printed with his initial and surname. What were his parents thinking about?
In Houghton, Cambridgeshire, there is in the centre of the village a statue of an erstwhile worthy called Potto Brown. That wouldn't be too bad - memorable at least.
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In my line of work I came across a woman with the name 'K Y Jolly'. (bit of a slippery customer, she was).
Oh, and someone with the surname 'Penas'. When a colleague repeated it back to him on the phone the rest of the office damn near wet ourselves.
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...Oh, and someone with the surname 'Penas'...
A few years ago Newcastle United signed a player called Brian Penis.
I think he was Belgian.
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>> ...Oh, and someone with the surname 'Penas'...
>>
>> A few years ago Newcastle United signed a player called Brian Penis.
>>
>> I think he was Belgian.
O - what happeeness!
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I sort-of knew a geezer years ago called Marion, no one ever took the pee out of him though because he packed a Winchester Model 1892 with an oversized loop lever.
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Like Zero, my middle name has been carried down through a couple of generations already. The middle initial adds a bit of a flourish to my signature, but that's the only time it gets an airing.
My late grandmother's middle name was Peace. She was born shortly after the end of World War I.
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Among the Frenchmen with a de before their surnames at my last school was one with a double-barrelled first name and a triple-barelled second name, all before the de. A close friend from that same school has a noble Italian double barrelled surname and six first names, one of which is Maria. In youth he claimed three other first names, but he was exaggerating. A man with the title Prince, who should be addressed as serene excellency, he looks and sounds owlishly English and has spent his life as a hard-working earnest left-wing educationist, retiring as the head of one of the big CFEs. He refers disparagingly to the quite highly-regarded private institution where we first met.
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'Christian name' isn't 'un-PC'; unless you work in or for the church or one of its offshoots, it's just wrong - on balance of probability at least. Christianity is a minority pursuit, so the nominee is more likely to have been named in accordance with another belief or none at all. To assume a given name is 'Christian' is patronizing and absurd.
Oh, and how about another silent James? James Gordon Brown.
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>> 'Christian name' isn't 'un-PC'; unless you work in or for the church or one of
>> its offshoots, it's just wrong - ...........
I know my names are Christian names because they were mentioned in the Christian Bible. tinyurl.com/d2a4dhv
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"because they were mentioned in the Christian Bible. "
The Bible isn't Christian, it's Jewish in origin for the most part.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Wed 18 Apr 12 at 09:19
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>> "because they were mentioned in the Christian Bible. "
>>
>>
>>
>> The Bible isn't Christian, it's Jewish in origin for the most part.
Thats the problem see, everyones christ is different.
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>> "because they were mentioned in the Christian Bible. "
>>
>>
>>
>> The Bible isn't Christian, it's Jewish in origin for the most part.
.....and the New Testament, in particular was written a good few years (40 to 100) after the death of its hero, who was a bit of a rabble rouser, anti-Roman activist and a Jewish bloke who probably spoke Aramaic.
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Marion Robert, by any chance? Otherwise known as John Wayne, Dog?
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“I stick to simple themes. Love. Hate. No nuances. I stay away from psychoanalyst's couch scenes.
Couches are good for one thing.”
~John Wayne
:)
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So, when all was done, as the new bride and groom departed did anyone shout out; "TIME FOR BED"?
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...one name such as 'John'.
Can you imagine what a phone directory would look like if everyone went down that route?
Don't know. What does a phone directory look like now?
Icelanders don't have surnames; they have a given name followed by a name indicating whose son or daughter they are - a bit like Tolkien's 'Frodo, son of Drogo'. Gives an enterprising family the chance to avoid the 'David Jones' trap by alternating rare and common names down the generations.
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>>
>>
>> Icelanders don't have surnames; they have a given name followed by a name indicating whose
>> son or daughter they are
>>
eg Magnus Magnuson, or Pompous Pompouson as Private Eye called him.
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The full name of my late friend Laurie the leather craftsman who lived up on Bodmin Moor was:
Lawrence, Jarvis, Stent, Smith :)
He 'played around' with his name over the years such as:
Javis L Smith.
Stent Laurie Smith.
Laurie J Smith.
We used to call him "Master".
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Unusual name Laurie Dog and leather craftsman not many of them about.
In our village as a young lad I used to be fascinated by a chap called Popkins.He used to fit the horse shoes to the farmers horses.Strong man.
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He would be a farrier then Dutchie, quite a few men in Cornwall are christened Fernley, wouldn't fancy it myself :)
I also know a Diggory Truscott.
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Great bloke.I usd to stand with the horses big animals but friendly.Live was simple then only the village Doctor had a car.Most villagers grew their own food and any spare was left to share.Not much wasted.Never heard of the word farrier.He had no fear of the horses.
Diggory Truscott that sounds like a comedian.>:)
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>>Live was simple then only the village Doctor had a car<<
Would you like to 'go back' to those days Dutchie? (bearing in mind all the 'progress' we've made over the years)
>>Diggory Truscott that sounds like a comedian<<
Fencing contractor actually :)
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In Spain it's Christian name followed by father's family name then mother's family name but generally shortened to only the first two. Consequently I'm listed in the telephone directory by my middle name
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>> On another note, I've recently heard of a website which enables people to change their
>> name by Deed Poll to one name such as 'John'.
What's goin' down John?
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There are still people in Wales called John Thomas who have never read DH Lawrence.
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>> There are still people in Wales called John Thomas who have never read DH Lawrence.
That's nothing. I know a girl called Diana H Lawrence and she doesn't have a ...no, let's not go there.
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....Robert, Maurice, Alexander, James, Edward, James, Leonard....
Quiz - Who came before Robert and after Leonard?
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Answer - Winston and Margaret.
They are all the first names of UK Prime Ministers, a surprisingly high proportion of whom in the second half of last century were called by their second names.
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The next prime minister after Winston Churchill in 1945 was Clement Richard Attlee, known as Clement (Clem). Where do you get the Robert from?
The next prime minister was Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, known as Winston.
?
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>> The next prime minister after Winston Churchill in 1945 was Clement Richard Attlee, known as
>> Clement (Clem). Where do you get the Robert from?
>>
>> The next prime minister was Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, known as Winston.
>>
>> ?
>>
I'm reading it as Robert Anthony Eden, Maurice Harold Macmillan, Alexander (shortened to Alec in the Scottish fashion) Douglas-Home and James Harold Wilson sandwiching the first forename Edward Heath.
But I haven't Googled to check.
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Absolutely right, Bromptonaut, with the addition of Leonard James Callaghan.
Cliff, I was starting with Eden as he was the first one to be called by his second name. Good one for a tie-breaker in a pub quiz perhaps.
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>> www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-17939155
>>
>> Read it and believe it.
I'd call her Wet Dreams!
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I'd call her a three bagger.
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Middle names: any use? - The Nut
