Does our child have to have a middle name?

eiosa · June 2014

We were sure we were having a boy and had his whole name picked out. Now that we found out we're having a girl we've decided we want to name her Kate. Not call her Kate or use Kate as a nickname or middle name, we want it to be her first name. We also aren't huge fans of Katherine or Kaitlyn or the like.

The problem is that I'm having the hardest time deciding on a middle name, nothing seems to work or sound good because Kate is such a short name. To me it sounds funny with a longer middle name (our last name is Iosa, pronounced eye-oh-sa, which has lots of vowels.) I'm leaning toward no middle name at all or maybe Kate Amelia (but think it would sound better Amelia Kate.) Ugh, this is so frustrating. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

golfingdarwinfish · June 2014

To answer the question in the subject, it's completely your choice whether or not you give your child a middle name.

Dani0329 · June 2014

My brothers do not have middle names. They were supposed to pick them when they were confirmed, but decided it was cooler not to have one.

bohemianlc · June 2014

I don't really have any suggestions for middle names, but I can assure you that many people don't have them. I am a former teacher, and there were always several kids on my class lists that did not have given middle names.

The right name will come to you if it's meant to be, but if not, I think it's perfectly acceptable to skip one!

RayRay007 · June 2014

You don't have to have a middle name. I think longer, classic names would go well with Kate. But I do like Amelia Kate (DD is Amelia). We are thinking Katie Mae, but that's not Kate.

coffee89 · June 2014

No, there is no legal or social requirement on middle names being present, how many you need etc. If you decide to go without a MN then no big deal.

I would keep n open mind and try to think about some names though. You still have time, we didn't pick our sons name until week 30-ish and I didn't 100% settle on it until maybe week 34. There are people on my BMB who are due in two weeks and still debating names.

BkBaby118 · June 2014

I think it's fine not to have a middle name. I technically have one, but have never really used it or felt like it was part of my identity, and now that I'm married, I changed my maiden name into my middle name. We'll probably give our baby a Korean middle name. Do you have any family names that are important to you that you could use if you wanted to, @eiosa‌?

eiosa · June 2014

@Nicb13 I do love the name Amelia but as a first name with our last name it just has too many vowels. Amelia Iosa is a mouthful.

@BkBaby118 The name Kate is a nod to my mother Kathy who passed away when I was 9. Her middle name was Louise. That would probably work but I'm not a huge fan. However, I do like the idea of naming children after family. I'll have to keep searching.

Jenrileysmom · June 2014

Kate Marie

Kate Michelle?

Unknown · June 2014

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abchittam · June 2014

I personally think that Amelia Kate would flow better with your last name. There is nothing wrong with going by her middle name if you still want to use Kate.

laurenita8 · June 2014

My husband didn't get a middle name and he always sounds like he feels cheated about it

ss265 · June 2014

I don't have a middle name (it's not common in my culture) and I have never experienced any issues.

TXPyroMom · June 2014

While not necessary, the pragmatic person in me would think about my daughter, Kate 'no middle name', growing up and marrying 'John Smith' and becoming 'Kate Smith' and how having an extremely common first and last name might cause trouble with fraud protection and such.

Of course, by the time our children grow up and get married the terminators will have taken over and we will all be living in the Matrix, so it won't even matter

Aarg · June 2014

What about Kate Margaret? Or Kate Elizabeth?

Just throwin names out there

tarasantoro · June 2014

I don't have a middle name!!! I always rocked at the game you play in middle school " bet ya can't guess my middle name" hahaha!! Never had a problem, the only time it did bother me was when my dad told me he wanted my middle name to be "bull" ..... My first name it tara...... Bull ...... Tara bull...... Terrible..... Yeah, good time

Beevol · June 2014

The thing about names 'flowing' or the first name sounding nice with the middle name is that the only time anyone cares is when you name the baby and after that? The only time your middle name is used is when you're in trouble as a kid. Think about the adults in your life - of the people you work with/go to school with/go to church with/etc, how many of their middle names do you know?

So you don't need a middle name and at the same time, a middle name is something that you get a pass with - it can be a little weird or the place where you pay homage to an ancestor with a weird/boring name or really anything because almost no one will know what it is in your child's life unless she wants them to know.

The only caution I would have is if this one doesn't get a middle name, you have to think about whether she will feel slighted when her younger siblings get middle names.

catinatophat · June 2014

I don't think you need a MN but Kate Evangeline is pretty.

megbmeg · June 2014

It is your call completely. Like a few PP, I don't have a middle name and it has always bugged me a little. It feels like I got left out of something.

mrskittens · June 2014

My sister and I didn't have middle names and we both used our last names as middle names when we got married. It's a bunch more paperwork and I actually had to go to court to do so because it was more than needing a marriage certificate to change a last name. I live in NH, not sure if it's different in other states. I was fine with no middle name growing up, besides people not believing me and making one up for me.

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