Your ancestor’s middle name could be:
- a maiden name of a mother or grandmother
- a first name of another relative
- a first name of a neighbor or family friend
- a name from a contemporary famous figure
- totally arbitrary and random
The fifth situation does not happen often, but it does happen.
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17 Responses
I think “totally arbitrary and random” applies in most cases for today’s babies — at least with my G-grand children.
In German names in times past, the ‘middle’ name was actually the name by which the person was called – eg Johann Georg was called Georg, or nickname like Jerg or Jorg etc.; Anna Catharina was known as Catharina. You might find several children on the same family with the same ‘first’ name.
This is very true. I have a German family where there were several sons with the “first name” of John. None really used it and they used their second name.
I also have a bunch of German relatives with the same first name, and they went by their middle name, When entering them in Family tree, I typed: First name (Capitol first letter, then lower case), MIDDLE NAME (name they went by in all upper case), and the Last name (Capitol first letter, then lower case). as in Johannes GEORG Böhmer. For me this makes sense. But then, Michael knows I do things differently. LOL!!!
Yes he does, Marinell!
Or the married surname of a sister of either parent.
Since many names were used over and over it would be to differentiate them – ID them to the right family. For example by adding the father’s or grandfather’s name. They also might have included the name of a Godmother or Godfather.
Or, the name of the pastor who baptized or married the child’s parents. This is the case with a few of my Baptist ancestors and seems to have been a common practice during the Great Awaking and Great Revival.
My daughter’s middle name was chosen fairly randomly. We wanted a single syllable, to follow her first name, with 3. Born early ’70s. Some of you may recall the book published a few years later, “Beyond Jason and Jennifer.” Many new parents – some,, no doubt flower children of the ’60s – were being quite creative with their names, often related to nature (Storm, Sunshine, Apple come to mind); while the more preppie types often chose “aspirational” names, like Madison (girl), which would work well for a professional – attorney, CEO, MD, etc.
My name is a combination of my maternal grandmother’s middle name, Mary, followed by my paternal great-grandmothers’ first name. Yes, that apostrophe is in the right place both of my dad’s grandmothers were Ellen’s. My maternal grandmother went by her middle name, Mary, because her first name was the same as her mother’s, and it was apparently awkward to have two Julias in the household. You’d think the parents might have thought of that….
If I had been involved with genealogy and had known my family history when my daughter was born, I would have given her two names of my most admired ancestors.
We thought of Heather for a first name, but rejected it, because “Heather Hammond” was a bit too breathy!
My older sister’s middle name is my mother’s first, Mary. My younger sister’s middle name is June after my mum’s only sister. My dad was an only child. My middle name is Wendy after his first fiancée! How did that happen?? Always a source of laughs though!
That happened a few times in my ancestry, too. And named after a 1st wife. THAT one was creepy. Wonder what wife #2 thought. But I suppose it wasn’t that unusual.
My grandmother, Doris June Criswell, and her sister Mildred May Criswell have the middle name of the month they were born. However, their 2 brothers’ middle names were Thomas and Francis.
This is so exciting to read! Although I never thought to ask who started it in my family, I have always gone by my middle name. Interestingly enough, years into researching her paternal history, my mother discovered an ancestor five generations previous whose name exactly matched mine – Celastine Lynn. The kicker? German!
At least twice in my female ancestry girls were given surnames as middle names. This has caused a lot of confusion. An example is Rhoda Stent Plant, her middle name, Stent, being the maiden surname of her mother. Early genealogists said Stent was Rhoda’s maiden name too. I couldn’t find her father until I followed a lead and found her maiden surname was Plant. Therefore, when she married the first time her name was Rhoda Stent Plant Baldwin. Then she married a second time to a Spaulding. More confusion ensued. Sigh!
My uncle’s middle name was for the doctor that delivered him.
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy has a middle name from his mother’s maiden name (Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy).