Middle name choices

[jerseygrits.livejournal.com]

So, my middle name is my mother's maiden name, and I've always thought that was pretty cool. I've also always planned on doing the same thing with my future children and giving them my maiden name as their middle name. As a result of this, I haven't even really considered first names as middle names for a very long time.

The way I see it, if I like a first name that much, why would I want to stick it in the middle where it would never be used? Why don't I keep it on the list for another child down the road? On the other side of the coin, why would I want to use a first name that I didn't love that much in the middle just to fill up some space?

It seems to me that the middle name is a perfect place for something meaningful. It's hard for me to see the point in putting a "pretty" name in the middle when the best thing it has going for it is that it sounds good with the first name. I understand why people might want to do this and why they might not have any better reason to do anything else, but personally, it would bother me using a middle name that didn't have a special meaning. It really baffles me when people have lists of first names and they want to combine them into first-and-middle-name sets. For me, everything on my list is a first-name possibility.

And with first names, by the way, the sound of the name and the "pretty" factor are very important since this is the name that will be used primarily for the child's entire life.

So, here are the questions:

Are there others of you out there who have your mothers' maiden names as your middle names? How does this affect your naming choices for your children?

How many of you are considering using a maiden name or another family LAST name as a middle name?

How many of you are considering using a family or otherwise meaningful FIRST name as a middle name?

How many of you are considering a "pretty" first name that sounds great but doesn't have any additional meaning to you for the middle name?

I realize the line between "meaningful" and "not meaningful" is difficult to draw, and I realize it doesn't just have to do with family history (the name might be after an author you love, for example). What I am really getting at is how your process for choosing the middle name fits in with the process for the first name. Is the middle name choice like a sub-choice of the first name, or is it something entirely different? How will you choose?

Comments

[sageharper.livejournal.com]

For all my feminist thinking I'm glad my mother didn't keep or pass on her maiden name; because obviously it's come from my maternal grandfather, and he [and his family] totally doesn't deserve to be honoured.

For my own children I intend for my last name to be either their second middle name or as a hypenated last name; for various reason I'm keeping it myself so it makes sense.

I've not given much thought to using family surnames to honour people; it just doesn't seem as personal, or the names don't work so well in that capacity. But I might, depends what my SO brings to the table.

All my middle names on my list are to honour people or have meaning in some capacity. They're just in that slot because either I can't see myself using them every day [too common/nms/whatever]. Or to prevent confusion as they're already someone's first name. My son will have enough issues without going through life as 'little Richard' (my brother is very tall).