Do we need a middle name? Is 1st & last ok?

maurahalp · July 2015

Hi all,

We are thinking of giving our baby just a first and last name, no middle name. Has anyone heard of any one who has just a first and last name encountering any problems later in life doing this? Thanks!

( I did do a search but didn't see anything on this. If I missed it please send me the link and I'll happily join the thread :-) )

rossi25 · July 2015

My partner has no middle name, no reason why it would cause problems later in life!

Definitely non-essential

MadBloom · July 2015

My grandfather didn't have a middle name. I always thought it was kind of weird but I totally get it now. Why do we NEED a middle name anyways?

tayzav · July 2015

My boyfriend doesn't have a middle name. Neither does my mom. I don't really think it's completely necessary. Just more common to have one than not.

Pontot31 · July 2015

My step dad doesn't have a middle name.
Occasionally online forms will give him a hard time if he doesn't put an initial in the box. That's the only issue he's had.
He gets a lot of junk mail with a fake initial or even middle name because people assume he has one. That gets annoying.

mamavbs · July 2015

It's probably not necessary but in my opinion, a good idea. You never know, your child may grow up and prefer to use the middle name. Also you may end up using it more than you think. We actually use my daughter's loads, it's a good "back up" name.

It's also very effective when they're being naughty, to "full name them" lol. I always knew I was in trouble if my dad used my entire name...

TacoSarah · July 2015

I think you can have as few or as many names as you like.

kristenm88 · July 2015

My dad does not have a middle name and it actually has caused him issues later on in life. He has a very common first and last name. He found out a few years ago when doing one of his credit checks that there was a house loan in his name. He had to fight with the credit bureau and the loan company to prove it was not him. The SS# didn't match the one on the loan and loan was in a completely different city, I'm talking the other side of the state.

It eventually got taken off his account but they had to reevaluate his credit since the real person was not paying on this loan and it was dropping my dad's credit score. At the time i was applying for college and it actually hurt me with getting school loans. So I would suggest giving your child a middle name do it doesn't hurt them later on in life.

lyankowi · July 2015

I know of some traditions where girls don't get middle names, then when they get married their madien name becomes there middle name. It's a long family tradition of no middle names for girls

RaisingJulian · July 2015

The only people in my family who have middle names is my generation. Me & all my cousins & siblings are the only ones with middle names. My fiancé also doesn't have a middle name. Neither do my parents. I don't see why it would cause any problems. It's not really necessary.

kesmeredith · July 2015

My Mom and her sister were specifically not given middle names so that when (if) they got married they could keep their maiden name as middle-- and my Mom did do that when she married my Dad. I always thought it was a neat idea and am contemplating doing that with our little girl.

coffeymg · July 2015

My mom was not given a middle name because her parents never wanted her to be called by anything but her given first name. She had issues with forms and people who didn't believe her when she said she didn't have one and she would have to mark X sometimes just to get them to stop saying, "No it can't be that bad you must have one, what is it...". When she was later divorced and going back to her maiden name my sister and I picked a middle name for her! Now my husband and I are giving our daughter my mom's chosen middle name as her middle name, too.

JStill0603 · July 2015

I don't personally think there's a problem with it, but if your child encounters or lives in a city where another person happens to have the same name, it could be one. I work in healthcare and I'm amazed that I live in such a small town (less than 10,000 people) and there are so many duplicate names. Each person has to be identified by two separate characteristics (usually name and DOB), but if there is a duplicate name we either use middle name or address to correctly identify them, along with DOB.

Favoritemandms · July 2015

Just chiming in to add that it's ultimately your decision, but I coordinate a lot of travel at work and we've run into issues where an employee is held up at the airport due to their name being on the "no fly" list. Booking the ticket with a middle name tends to help this issue.

lanire · July 2015

I have no middle name and never had any problems with that. I do have a somewhat uncommon last name, so I generally don't have mix-up with another person issues. If anything I find not having a middle name more convenient for filling out forms.

Falchas · July 2015

Washington Post ran an article earlier in the year that I saved (thought the name thing was interesting myself). Scroll down to bottom of article to piece about middle names:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/opinions/2015/04/09/spring-cleaning-2015/

urby87 · July 2015

kristenm88 said:

My dad does not have a middle name and it actually has caused him issues later on in life. He has a very common first and last name. He found out a few years ago when doing one of his credit checks that there was a house loan in his name. He had to fight with the credit bureau and the loan company to prove it was not him. The SS# didn't match the one on the loan and loan was in a completely different city, I'm talking the other side of the state. It eventually got taken off his account but they had to reevaluate his credit since the real person was not paying on this loan and it was dropping my dad's credit score. At the time i was applying for college and it actually hurt me with getting school loans. So I would suggest giving your child a middle name do it doesn't hurt them later on in life.

I have heard of a similar situation with a former co-worker of mine, though I forget if it was her or her husband who had the problem. One of them shared a name with their parent - without a middle name or suffix - and they ended up with property under their name that actually belonged to their parent. Aside from avoiding duplicate names, I'll also second what others have mentioned about certain forms requiring a middle name or initial, the child preferring to use their middle name (I did for a while because my first name is very common for my age group), etc...

maurahalp · July 2015

Thanks everyone, I appreciate you coming back to me in it. I am glad I asked, it's great to hear what others have encountered.

Mamavbs I had completely forgotten about the impact of being called by my 'full name' when I was in trouble - I may do it for that alone!! Haha :-)

Falchas thanks for sending the article, it was an interesting read plus I'm even more glad someone else was asking themselves this question too!

allisontierney · July 2015

I don't have a middle name. Never bothered me.
I actually made my maiden name into my middle name when I got married. I liked my last name before, This way I don't have to hyphenate.

joannk29 · July 2015

I don't have a middle name, neither does the rest of my family. My husband does and his family has middle names. I always wanted a middle name. Our son will have a middle name but I almost didn't give him one.

MRSJESSICAX · July 2015

My mum doesn't have a middle name but chose to give all her children middles names so i am not sure how she felt about it. She doesn't have a very common name so never came across any issues.

oorl11052015 · July 2015

My husband does have one because my MIL and her first husband divorced when she was pregnant with him and she just named him and didn't think of a middle name..

lizzysalvia · July 2015

I don't have a middle name. No worries. Less paperwork if anything

aproulx725 · July 2015

I don't have a middle name either. Kinda wish I did but other than that it's fine.

olga1311 · July 2015

My husband's sister doesnt have a MN and no one cares, including her. I also don't have a MN and never felt like I am missing something, def no problems

Kanne0729 · July 2015

I don't have a middle name and I've turned out fine, for the most part. It never really bothered me either, not even when I was younger. I actually have known several other people that don't have middle names, my best friend when I was younger didn't have one. The one thing that did bother me with my name is that my first name is two names put together so everyone always thought that the last part of my first name was my middle name and it drove me crazy.

ashleyfreake · July 2015

My SO and I are giving the little one no middle name since we are hyphenating our last names it will be long enough lol. Plus he doesn't have a middle name either and has never had any issues