Choosing a Middle Name for Your Baby

Choosing a Middle Name for Your Baby

Hoorah, you’ve finally found on a first name you can both agree on. After months of searching, weeks of list-compiling, and hours of arguing, you’ve finally found the one. It’s perfect. You’ve tested it every way you can imagine, and it has passed with flying colours. It sounds great with your surname, it can’t be shortened to anything resembling a rude word, and it doesn’t mean toilet in Japanese.

As you and the daddy-to-be breathed a collective sigh of relief, you suddenly realised you’d only half finished. “What about the middle name?” you exclaimed in unison, fighting back the tears. Suddenly you were back at square one, or it felt that way at least. Fear not, here are some tips to help you in choosing a middle name for your baby:

  1. Choose a sentimental name – if there is a special friend or family member, perhaps one who is no longer with you, then this a great way to honour them. The added bonus is that if your favourite uncle was called Gravel, it’s only going to be your baby’s middle name so not many people will know it.
  2. Be inspired by the great – sports personalities, world-changing politicians and great historical figures can all provide inspiration. Bradley Wiggins has undoubtedly spawned a few namesakes since his impressive summer of sport in 2012. It’s also possible there will be a few extra baby Margarets following the death of Margaret Thatcher.
  3. Take inspiration from the arts – if you or your partner have a favourite character from a book or film, you could name the baby after them. The name Jessica proved popular last year, and this could be down to the success of the US sitcom New Girl. Similarly, when Titanic came out, Rose and Jack were both climbed up the baby name charts.
  4. Make it fair – if you chose the first name, perhaps it’s fair to let the father-to-be select the middle name. Or vice versa. That way you’ve both had input into the name. If your bump will have an older sibling, you could let them choose the middle name.
  5. How does it sound? – it’s perfectly ok to select a middle name for no other reason than it worked with the first and last names. You don’t need to have a long backstory as to why the name was chosen, you can just say it sounded good.
  6. Don’t have one – this might seem controversial, but middle names aren’t mandatory. Some people think they make a name sound more complete, but if you don’t agree then don’t spend hours fretting over it. Not everybody has a middle name.

If you have found a name you both like, then that’s all that matters. Let us know what middle name you’ve chosen.

Written by Fiona, proud owner of a toddler, @fiona_peacock

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2018. All rights reserved.