Baby Middle Name

You probably know many people in your adult life who go by their middle name rather than their first name. And you probably know many more who use their middle name as a first name without many people even knowing about it!

When one of my friends was pregnant, she and her husband decided to name their baby Delano and call him “Del” for short. Then, the father’s much-loved uncle passed away. They decided to give the baby the uncle’s name as a first name, but more as a tribute than an everyday name. Also, the uncle’s name sounded better coming before “Delano” than after. So, Del, who’s in kindergarten now, knows to let teachers and others know that even though it says one first name on the roll sheet, he actually goes by Del.

School plays a role in other aspects of name choice. The idea of a middle name as a “safety” does hold some merit. For example, maybe your child was the only Braden you’d heard of at the time of his birth, but if he gets to kindergarten and the are three other Bradens in class, you and he might want to consider the middle name as an alternative to being “Braden B.” for his entire school life.

If you happen to pick names for both the first and middle name that have multiple variations and nicknames, there’s all the more choices for your child later on. Victoria Elizabeth can be Vicky, Tori, Betsy, Beth and so on.

Many famous people go by their middle name for one reason or another. Maybe it sounded more “Hollywood,” or maybe there was already someone in the Screen Actor’s Guild with that name. For example, Warren Beaty’s real first name is Henry. Robert Redford is really Charles. Faye Dunaway’s first name is Dorothy—not very Hollywood to be sure!