Historical norms and a bit of whimsy play a role in why we have middle names
Why Do We Have Middle Names? The Real Reasons, Explained
Updated on Feb. 26, 2025
When a baby is born, the first name gets all the glory—and scrutiny. But the middle name, if there is one, can seem like an afterthought. Maybe the chosen middle came in second to the first name? Or perhaps it’s there for some long-forgotten patriarchal purpose? When you really start thinking about it, it makes you wonder, Why do we have middle names at all?
For years, I believed my parents chose my own snoozy middle name (Ann) in blind haste. My sister’s is Jean and equally blah. But my baby bro’s middle name, Robert, honors our maternal grandfather. Did they love him best, or was there simply more time to consider it? He did arrive nearly a decade later.
As a longtime parenting writer who often covers baby names, the middle-moniker backstory has always felt murky. So I reached out to three genealogy specialists and dug into Ancestry’s archives to find out the history of these secondary names. Read on to find out the origins of middle names, how parents go about choosing them and which ones are the most popular for babies right now.
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Why do we have middle names?
The answer is pretty straightforward: “Middle names serve as a way to further identify someone beyond their first name alone,” according to Christopher C. Child, a senior genealogist at the Newbury Street Press, the publishing imprint for the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the editor of the Mayflower Descendant. Sometimes, they’re also given to honor one’s culture or a person of special significance or to highlight a specific value or ideal the parents hope their child will embody. And other times, of course, they just sound good sandwiched between the first and last name.
There’s also a historical component to this. Way back in our nation’s history, name variety wasn’t common, so the middle name served to distinguish people from one another. “For example, our second president, John Adams, lived at a time when there were many people in Massachusetts with the same two names,” explains Child. “But his son, John Quincy Adams, the first president with a middle name, was the first person with those three names.”
Using the same first name is a long-held tradition for women too. My friend Paula’s name, for instance, has shown up in five successive generations, though each family member has her own distinct middle name (Murray, Burr, Tracy).
What is the origin of middle names?
Middle names have been around for thousands of years. “They can be traced back to ancient Rome, which had a custom of a praenomen (first name), nomen (family name) and cognomen (nickname),” says Child. However, after the empire’s fall in 476 AD, Rome’s social structure and centralized identity as a people broke down, and with this collapse, middle-name usage faded away.
Middle names then reemerged in Italy around the 1200s, spreading throughout Europe, first among the nobility and then in the rest of the population. “Italy already had a system of middle-name use in place from the Roman Republic and Empire, so it returned to the custom of an earlier era,” explains Child. Italian upper classes began taking middles (often family and maiden names) and other parts of Europe’s elite followed.
The other major shift occurred in the 19th century, both in Europe and the United States. Farm life gave way to urbanization, and “as travel and communication improved, Americans of European descent felt the need to give kids a middle name to distinguish them,” says David Curtis Dearborn, president of the American Society of Genealogists.
And here’s another interesting fact: Around the same time, state bureaucracy went through a growth spurt—along with a seemingly endless amount of documents. “These forms required you to list the right age, race, marital status and gender in order to access citizenship, go to school, vote, own property or have independent access to wealth,” explains Amy Harris, PhD, an associate professor of history and genealogy at Brigham Young University. In the U.S., for example, the census determined representation in Congress, while in other places, “governments wanted data on their citizens to calculate military strength, their tax bases and social welfare systems,” she says. “Middle names became a better way to uniquely identify someone.”
Do countries around the world use middle names?
While they’re optional, middle names have become a strong custom in many cultures In fact, says Dearborn, “currently, in the Western world, it’s unusual for a person to have only two names.” But middle names do not appear in every country, and when they do, they may have their own slant.
For example, middle names are not used in Japan, China and Korea. The family name comes first, then the given name. Russia, on the other hand, abides by a patronymic system of naming: People here use the father’s first name as the child’s middle name, then add -ovich/-evich for boys and -ovna/-evna for girls.
How do parents choose middle names?
According to our experts, as well as online name trackers, how parents choose middle names is very personal. As noted earlier, they might want to recognize family members or friends, pay homage to important historical figures or simply go with a name they like. When middle names surged in popularity in the 19th century, Western European cultures began giving the mother’s maiden name as a child’s middle name, and that’s a practice we still see today.
“In genealogical research, we often try to see if middle names are given after earlier ancestral relatives,” Child says. “But sometimes they can simply be from popular literary or religious figures of the time.” Take, for instance, people born between 1960 and 1980: There were dozens of people “with the first and middle names Elvis and Presley, with some even carrying Elvis’s own middle name, Aron, too,” points out Dearborn. Who knows—maybe there will be a bunch of kids with the middle monikers Taylors and Sabrina someday!
What are the most common middle names?
According to data from Ancestry, the most common middle names honor, well, our ancestors—even more than first names, which often follow trends, do. In fact, 20% of parents choose their children’s middle names this way. Because of this practice, the most popular middle names tend not to drastically change with each generation, since the family tradition involves carrying the name forward.
Still, as people with once-popular first names become grandparents, those names often resurface in the form of middle names for their grandchildren. Some of today’s popular middles, like Michelle and Alan, peaked in popularity as first names in 1968 and 1947, respectively.
Here’s a snapshot of the most common middle names, as of February 2024, from Ancestry’s database:
Most common middle names for girls
- Anne
- Lynn
- Elizabeth
- Lee
- Nicole
- Louise
- Michelle
- Renee
- Jean
Most common middle names for boys
- Alan
- Michael
- James
- William
- Lee
- John
- Robert
- Andrew
While these are the most popular of the bunch, there are probably plenty of vintage names in your family scrapbooks that would make excellent middle monikers. Beyond this, adds Harris, “the mother’s maiden name still remains a popular choice.”
As for me, I just may start appreciating my own middle name, Ann, a little more.
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At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. For this piece on why we have middle names, Jennifer Geddes tapped her experience as a longtime journalist who specializes in parenting topics and often covers baby names for Reader’s Digest. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- Christopher C. Child, senior genealogist of the Newbury Street Press; email interview, February 2025
- David Curtis Dearborn, president of the American Society of Genealogists; email interview, February 2025
- Amy Harris, PhD, associate professor at Brigham Young University; email interview, February 2025
- Shelby Ploucha, communications manager for Ancestry; email interview, February 2025
