"Filler" Middle names

MelleTX

I really hate to think that I am going to give my baby a "filler" middle name, but my grandmothers' were named Grace and Louise. So either one of those will be the middle name. I love Grace...it has been on my list for a while so it is a family name to me, but I worry that she will have the same middle names as half her classmates. Then again, how often do kids really share their middle names in public?

p1nklemonade

> Then again, how often do kids really share their middle names in public?<

this.  our girl middle name choice is super common (it's actually Grace) but I love it with our first name choice, and I can't think of one time as a child that I introduced myself or was introduced by my parents by first and middle names.

n0legirl

MelleTX:

Then again, how often do kids really share their middle names in public?

 

This!

My middle name is Ann. I'm pretty sure about 70% of girls that I grew up with had Ann/Anne as a middle name. It was pretty popular in the 80s, as Grace is now, I don't think it's a big deal. 

jez_girl

In my opinion, it's only a "filler" middle name if there's no family connection. People won't know it was for a family member unless you tell them, but you'll know there is meaning behind it, which is all that matters.

starlight8323

I'm not going to be using any filler middle names, but to each their own.

I'm not going to say you and PPs shouldn't use Grace. At least it's a real name, spelled correctly.  If it means something to you, by all means use it.

I just think it's boring when everyone has the same name. Middle names included. I realize your family connection, but I think a lot of people use it because they used up all of their energy on trying to think of first names. Fortunately I don't have that problem. There are so many great names out there.

I have almost 50 names on my girls long list, and I would never want to use up a spot with something that everyone and their mother has used (literally).

 

KoalaBear103

If it has a family connection I don't consider it a filler. 

ZTACRYSTAL

Our daughter has the biggest "filler" name ever, Marie. However, we chose to use it because it is my mother and sisters middle name and my mother got it from her Grandmother. It was her first name. We would have never used it if it wasn't tied to family. I think it is wonderful when a "filler" name actually means something! Use it if you like it!

nestinginjapan

I'm realizing now that middle names don't matter as much as I thought they did. No one ever asks what DS's middle name is. What matters is that DH and I like it, and it also has family significance.  Since Grace and Louise have significance to you, I wouldn't hesitate at all!

bll530

I really don't think it matters if your daughter has the same middle name as every other person in school.  That being said, go with Louise since it is less common than Grace. Disclaimer, my middle name (before I dropped it for my maiden name) was Louise, so I've got a soft spot for it. 

strangebird

It doesn't matter if you use a "filler" name if you love the name and you love the way the first, middle and last names sound together. And be certain that it wont bother you if people assume you chose Grace as a filler name--that's something that matters a lot more to some people than others. Be certain it isn't something that will grate on your nerves.

Several of the PPs said that they never discussed their middle names in school and I wonder if they're remember that correctly. I can remember a good dozen school projects that involved names and family names and I can remember several dozen discussions with friends about our names and the names we loved and the names we were going to give our child. It comes up, a lot.

I remember being so proud of my mother for choosing three names for me that meant a great deal to her, so that my name had a "story," I loved having two middle names and I loved that my middle name wasn't Marie, Lynn or Anne. I'm sure that a lot of kids never think about their names the way I did, but if at all possible, I certainly want my kids to love their names as much as I loved mine and to know that I put a great deal of thought into the names I chose for them.

That's why I so often comment here on the Bump that names seem "generic" or that their "filler" names.

HappyMrsK

I know some people like to be creative with mn's, but I think if it's a name you really love, then it shouldn't stop you from using it. I have loved the name Grace for many, many years and I love it's meaning too. I am not opposed to using it a mn for my LO even though people consider it a "filler" name.

Personally, I consider the flow of the name important as well as the meaning. So if Grace sounds the best with whatever I have chosen as a fn, then I'm going to use it, regardless of it's "filler" status.

MrsFoof

Please don't take this the wrong way, but no one is really going to care what her middle name is.

When she is 7 and a friends sleep over and they are all talking about their middle names, when she says hers is Grace- her little friends (or their parents) aren't going to say "OMG, you have a filler middle name.  That is so cheesey your parents named you that.  I feel sorry that you have to go through life with the middle name Grace, it is so common."

I think people think WAY to much about what other people are going to think rather than following your gut and naming your baby the perfect name that you love.

 Grace is a beautiful name with a beautiful meaning! 

Again, please don't take my post the wrong way, I am not trying to be rude or anything 

weezieee

n0legirl:

Then again, how often do kids really share their middle names in public?

 

This!

My middle name is Louise, and it sounds pretty with my first name I think, and its also a family name. I've never had a problem with it!

Allie30

I rant here all the time about how much I hate "filler" middle names, and Grace in particular, but if it ISN'T a filler -- if you want to name her Grace then I say go for it. There is nothing wrong with Grace. Grace is lovely. And *you* know it's not a filler.

I do disagree with a previous poster that MN don't matter, though. Both my husband and I come from families that give their children very meaningful middle names -- several of my family members actually go by their middle names (as a "first" name) or use it professionally as a last name. It is very important to us that our baby has a name like that. So what matters is what you say matters. To us, it matters, and has always mattered.

To you, naming your child Grace is meaningful, so go for it and don't worry that seventeen thousand other people just threw in Grace for the hell of it. 

MrsFoof

Allie30:

I do disagree with a previous poster that MN don't matter, though. Both my husband and I come from families that give their children very meaningful middle names -- several of my family members actually go by their middle names (as a "first" name) or use it professionally as a last name. It is very important to us that our baby has a name like that. So what matters is what you say matters. To us, it matters, and has always mattered.

To you, naming your child Grace is meaningful, so go for it and don't worry that seventeen thousand other people just threw in Grace for the hell of it. 

If you are referring to my post, I completely 100% agree with you about the meaning of a middle name.   My mn and both DD's mn's have significance.  IMO, a middle name carries more significance than a first name.

What I meant was that if she liked the name Grace (whether it means something special to her or just a "filler" name) she should name her baby that.  No one (other than the child, parents, and close family memebers) are going to care if it is a common middle name that has significance or just a "filler" name.