Another s/o; Do you USE your middle name?

[Carrie12345]

So many of you mentioned moving your maiden name to middle. Do you use it consistently? Did you use your previous middle name before that?
 

I have a run of the mill middle name (typical for a Carrie, often used as a compound first name), but it’s only use has been for when I’m in trouble, lol.   
I don’t even get flagged for not putting it in online forms. I can’t keep track of which documents/cards it’s on, which ones have middle initial, and which just have first and last. I just checked my drivers license for fun, and that does have it.

My signature is a big first initial and scribbled last name.

[Kassia]

I never use my middle name.  Hate it.  

 

[Faith-manor]

I do not use my middle name, just the initial. My parents named me after my mother but then called me by my middle name. It was hugely problematic as a child since I went by one name at school and another at home. I hated that middle name. When I left for college dorms at 16, I dropped the use of it.

[KungFuPanda]

I have a 3-syllable first and last name. My single syllable middle name breaks it up. If I used my 3-syllable maiden name instead it would be a mouthful. My FOO does occasionally use my middle name a lot. I share it with my mom, so I’m a little attached. If only it had an “e.”

[HS Mom in NC]

I was one who dropped my middle name for my maiden name when I took my husband's name.  Middle names are useless as a kid as far as I can tell, so I never used it.  Now as a married person I sign all 3 names every signature, so yes, I use it all the time and have used all 3 as my FB name. We use our credit card for everything for the cashback points (we don't have spending issues anymore) so I use it at least weekly. Someone who was into genealogy told me it the practice is particularly helpful to them.  I don't care anything about genealogy, and take issue with it as a Christian in some respects, so that wasn't my motivation.

The only time I kind of regretted it was signing for my own blood transfusion.  I was conscious, but had lost so much blood that holding a pen and signing 15 letters instead of 9 seemed like asking a lot.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Homeschool Mom in AZ

[JustEm]

The only time now that I use it is in silly arguments with my mom.  She still called me by my first name and the middle name she gave me at birth (which is her first name.)  If I'm feeling sassy, I remind her that isn't my middle name anymore. Then we jokingly argue about the fact that I couldn't wait to ditch her name or that I'll get rid of it as my true middle name.

But having my maiden name as a middle name has helped a bunch with things I never managed to switch over to my new last name.  People look at my driver's license, see my last name on there, and just assume it is my last name.

[MooCow]

7 minutes ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

I was one who dropped my middle name for my maiden name when I took my husband's name. 

This. My former SIL did this so I copied her. 

Friends will use my first and previous middle name because ironically it's my nickname.

[happi duck]

I love my middle name!  I always include include it as my full name.

The people I know who moved their maiden name to middle name did so for a specific reason so definitely used it.

[Dmmetler]

I use my maiden name as a middle name on anything official. I don’t use my other middle name much anymore, but still have it. I was named after my grandfathers, so they’re both special. 

[PeterPan]

My maiden name is pretty terrible (not melodic or interesting and so close to something unpleasant that you really would never use it), so I would never have been interested in the whole hyphenated, bringing forward your maiden name thing. My middle name is quite lovely and flows well with my first name, but it's not really something that gets used a lot. In fact, I would say over the last 20 years of filling out forms as an adult I've used it less and less. Not sure if that means I'm out and about less or whether what is requested on forms has changed.

Edited October 25, 2021 by PeterPan

[Guest]

I do use my maiden-middle name about half the time. I am a Notary and I use it for that. I use it often for signing documents. But I don’t use my birth middle name much. I have thought about actually changing (with a court order) my name to eliminate my birth middle name altogether. 

[SKL]

I like my middle name, but I don't use it in general conversation/correspondence.

[elegantlion]

I only use my middle initial. I detest my middle name, but I like my signature with the initial. My mom wanted my middle name after her sister but chose a diminutive of it instead - like instead of Deborah she chose Deb. I know she was concerned about me having to spell it all out, but I would have been happier with the full name. 

 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I like my middle name and would rather use it than my given name. However, it didn't catch on when I tried so...

The only time I use my middle name is when I'm talking to myself and showing frustration. Like while playing tennis and I make a silly error. 
"Oh, First name middle name, stop doing that." "First name middle name, move your feet." Kind of like when we really want to get our children's attention and use their first and middle names.

I rarely use my middle initial on anything

[Janeway]

My mom's first name was a two part name, Carol Ann. It caused it grief. My grandpa always called her Carol Ann. Everyone else called her Carol. But then on medical records and everything else, we would have to look for Carol Ann as her first name, Carol as her first name, Carol as her first and Ann as her middle. Carol Ann as first and Louise as middle, Carol as first and Louise as middle. I think on rare occasion, someone has thoughts Ann was her first name.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Janeway

[athena1277]

When I got married, I traded my last name for dh’s and kept my middle name.  It’s the girl version of my dad and grandpa’s name, so to me it was more special than the last name that was shared with my brother and cousins.  I also never really liked that last name, so I was glad to give it up.

[Ellie]

"Ellie" is a diminutive form of my middle name. A pox on my parents for giving me an official first and second name (I'm actually named after a great-grandmother) but calling me by a different name altogether! It has been the bane of my existence. I use my full name for really legal things, like buying a house, but "Ellie" for everything else.  I gave my dds first names that have no diminutive forms, and have always called them by their first names, not their middle names (although dd#2 has a common first name; I knew she would meet many others with the same first name but I did it anyway. 🙂 She has used her middle name on the job because of others with the same first name.).

[Pawz4me]

On all financial/legal/otherwise important documents I use first name maiden name married name.

For general/personal use it's just first name married name.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I have used my middle name since birth. Three of my four siblings have used their middle name since birth. 
 

eta- we have used my daughter’s middle name as her primary name also since birth. 

Edited October 25, 2021 by Jean in Newcastle

[Bootsie]

Professionally, in correspondence and on business cards, I use my middle initial--Dr. Lizzie P. Doe--in a male-dominated fiield it seemed to give a bit more seriousness than simply a first name that many people think is a diminutive of a more formal name (but is my legal name).  I use my full middle name on legal documents; it was my grandmother's middle name and now also my daughter's middle name.

[gardenmom5]

I've never moved my maiden name to the middle.  I've never used my middle name - I do use my middle initial on legal documents.

my grandmother and several of her sisters - used their middle names instead of their first names.

 

[73349]

I like my middle name better than my first name and wish I'd been called by it. I typically include the initial in my signature.

[KungFuPanda]

3 hours ago, Janeway said:

My mom's first name was a two part name, Carol Ann. It caused it grief. My grandpa always called her Carol Ann. Everyone else called her Carol. But then on medical records and everything else, we would have to look for Carol Ann as her first name, Carol as her first name, Carol as her first and Ann as her middle. Carol Ann as first and Louise as middle, Carol as first and Louise as middle. I think on rare occasion, someone has thoughts Ann was her first name.

Yikes.  More, or less, than three names is problematic in all sorts of ways.  It's always a paperwork nightmare.  A friend of mine has no middle name at all.  They just don't follow the same pattern in Lebanon.  On every form she has to write First Name - NMI - Last Name.  If you leave those middle name spaces blank it makes everyone's heads and computers explode.

[EmilyGF]

I went by my middle name in college, decided afterwards to go back to my first name, but enjoy meeting up with long-lost college friends who still call me by my middle name.

If I hadn't done that, I would have taken my maiden name as my middle name. But, wowsers, my maiden name and married name are both long and confusing and difficult to spell. I might have shortened it like my mom did; imagine Johnson -> Jo.

Emily

[kokotg]

I have a throwaway generic 70s middle name, and I never use it unless I'm asked for it specifically. I love my kids' middle names, on the other hand, and will give them out at every opportunity 🙂

[rebcoola]

Not really but I am glad to have one. My middles sister had no middle name my mom just didn't like any and thought no big deal.  It's actually really annoying and you have to no middle name or no middle initial on all official forms not just leave it blank.  She made her maiden her middle when she got married.

[Corraleno]

My maiden name is my legal middle name, and I use all three names for most things.  I have two totally different signatures though — I sign all three names legibly for things that matter (including checks) but for things like signing on a credit card machine, or signing for a package, or acknowledging that the doctor gave me some form or other, I just sign a large first initial plus a long squiggle.

[Loowit]

I only use my middle name on official documents.  I sign my name with my middle initial.  DD has talked about switching to her middle name, but hasn't done it so far.  My mom went by her middle name until she got to school and the teachers insisted she had to go by her first name.

[KungFuPanda]

I'm from a part of the country where middle names get used . . . especially if you're in trouble. 

[Murphy101]

Never since my mother died. My middle name is lame as heck and my first is the same as hers. So for some legal stuff I had to use it before I got married. Not since then though. I’m not sure my kids even know what it is. 

[TravelingChris]

I had a nickname that my parents used for my name- it was a made up name- not one in any language- just a combo of part of my first and a nickname of my first middle, and I used that name in school, etc.  But my first name and first middle name were exactly as my mother's and it became a problem as I grew older.  When I was about 14, my mother received a gift of about 10 or 15K from a rich lady who had taken her in during or right after WWII and had paid for her to finish high school, and maybe go to university too. It was wired to our bank where we both had accounts.  It got placed in my account by mistake and they had to transfer it to my moms/  I decided because we were moving to a nearby county and I would be changing schools that I would change the spelling of the first name and then change my middle name and use it.  I used X.  Christina (not X actually) from the time I was a teen to a few years after I moved to AL.  With the Star ID, you have to have the same name everywhere and also, I hated that AL required that I have my first name spelled out on DL, not continue to use X. Middle Name Last Name.  So I applied to change my name for the second time and the probate judge decided my first name was X Christina.  But I didn\t even know that until about 3 or 4 years after the name change-- I thought my first name was M and middle, as always was Christina.  So technically I am not using my middle, I am using the second part of my first name.

[Eos]

I like my middle name and had never heard of anyone else having it - it's a family last name.  When I moved to my present home there are loads of that name here, plus a town of it, plus Middle Name Road - it was a bit weird!

[theelfqueen]

I use my middle name more than my first name. 

[stephanier.1765]

I kept my middle name vs substituting my maiden name. I was often teased as a child because of my last name so it was easy for me to let that name go and embrace my married last name.

[Melissa Louise]

No, because I don't like it. 

I gave my kids really lovely middle names as a result. Of course, they don't like/use them, sigh. 

[Kassia]

12 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

No, because I don't like it. 

I gave my kids really lovely middle names as a result. Of course, they don't like/use them, sigh. 

I had a beloved aunt who was so incredibly special to me and I honored her by using her name as my dd's middle name.  I love it because it has such special meaning to me and I think it goes well with the rest of her name anyway.  She hates it.  

ETA - Ds1 has a special middle name after someone in DH's family and I wish we had done the same for Ds2 and Ds3.  We just chose middle names that we thought went well with the rest of their names but they have no special meaning and I regret that now.  I don't like my middle name but it's after my great grandmother - my grandfather insisted on it.  In fact, he thought that was my first name until he died.  My mother never told him that it was my middle name (she was a compulsive liar anyway and I guess she didn't want to deal with telling her father that she didn't want that as my first name).  So his side of my family called me by my middle name until he died because everyone thought it was my first name.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Kassia

[lynn]

I use it online......

[Hen]

I only use my middle name when signing important legal things, like loans, buying property, stuff like that.  

 

[DawnM]

I use all the names

First, middle, maiden, and married

[Clarita]

My middle name is my Chinese name. It was customary in Hong Kong to do that for your English name. So my mom and my extended family generally call me by my middle name and wait staff at restaurants who knew me when I was a kid. I actually really like my Chinese name in Chinese, my dad actually did take time to decide my Chinese name so it has meaning (it's like healing beauty).

In day to day life people use my first name and occasionally my last name. It confuses people though if they meet my name before they meet me in person. Yes, my born in Hong Kong mother gave me a Spanish name. So here I am a Chinese lady with a Spanish first name and an American last name (apparently my husband's family several generations ago changed last names because immigration/racism/fear). 

[SeaConquest]

13 hours ago, happi duck said:

I love my middle name!  I always include include it as my full name.

Same. I love my middle name and always use it. It is a part of my identity and people remember me by it. 

[Terabith]

Yes, I use it as my middle name.  My every day signature just uses the middle initial, but I do use it for more involved things.  

[Tap]

I only use it on legal forms that require it.  

DD23 started going by her middle name, as her first name, in middle school. When she got married she changed her legal first name, to her middle name. Then she picked her own middle name. 🙂 I love that she picked her own name! She is thinking about possibly going by her chosen name at her next job just to see how much she likes it. 

 

[Shoeless]

I never use my middle name. It's dull and dated, like one of those names from a Dick and Jane reader. My first name is long enough without adding on my middle name. 

[Junie]

I like my middle name, but I don't like it with my first name.  I don't really use it, although I usually sign documents with the initial.

[Jaybee]

On 10/25/2021 at 10:13 AM, Pawz4me said:

On all financial/legal/otherwise important documents I use first name maiden name married name.

For general/personal use it's just first name married name.

Same. When signing said documents, I sometimes sign with full name, and sometimes sign using an initial for my maiden name. Before I was married, I think (so long ago I can't remember, lol) I used my given middle name in the same way. I was never called by my given middle name, but it was just part of my name. I preferred on anything official to use it though, which was helpful in college when there was another student with the same first and last name (my name is not exceptionally unusual, but neither is it very common). I had never known anyone with my first and last name before university years, nor have I since. I shared that name with my daughter for her middle name, which also happens to be my dil's and her mom's middle name, so it has now been passed down to our first grandaughter.

ETA: None of my names is long: 1 syllable, 2 syllables and short (given middle name), 2 syllables, 2 syllables. I supposed if I had an unusual or long married last name or maiden name, I might have done differently.

Edited October 26, 2021 by Jaybee

[Jaybee]

21 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Yikes.  More, or less, than three names is problematic in all sorts of ways.  It's always a paperwork nightmare.  A friend of mine has no middle name at all.  They just don't follow the same pattern in Lebanon.  On every form she has to write First Name - NMI - Last Name.  If you leave those middle name spaces blank it makes everyone's heads and computers explode.

Yes. My dad did not have a middle name. Sometimes he would get "assigned" one by computers or someone. I figure the more people there are, the more an additional name helps differentiate. But having filled out numerous immigration and other forms when flying/living internationally, I sure wouldn't want an additional name due to both time and blanks provided. (An additional legal name--different if it is given at a christening or something and not used legally.)

[Forget-Me-Not]

My legal name is First-Middle-Married. I only use it on legal docs. My Facebook name is First-Maiden-Married so friends from high school etc. can find me.  In my everyday life I’m (shortened) First Last. 

[Zinnia2]

My maiden name is my middle name.  I use it consistently when I sign things.  My facebook profile has it.  I think of myself as all three names.  Sort of like an old fashioned hyphenated name.  My mother, grandmother, and mother in law are all similar.  Three of my sons have maiden names as first names, too.

[Hen]

I was just thinking about my sister, who has an unusual, longish name and so was not given a middle name; she kind of regrets that. Feels shorted, I guess?