Middle initial

In various cultures, a middle name is a portion of a personal name that is written between the person's first given name and their surname.
A middle name is often abbreviated and is then called middle initial or just initial.

A person may be given a middle name regardless of whether it is necessary to distinguish them from other people with the same given name and surname. In cultures where a given name is expected to precede the surname, additional names are likely to be placed after the given name and before the surname, and thus called middle names.

The use of multiple middle names has been somewhat impeded recently by the increased use of computer databases that occasionally allow for only a single middle name or more commonly a middle initial in storing personal records, effectively preventing people with multiple middle names from being listed in such databases under their full name. This is worsened by longer compound names, like María del Pilar Pereyra or María de las Nieves García Fernández. A workaround would be to add the middle name alongside the first given name or surname, however this is not always possible.

Usage in various languages

English

Among royalty and aristocracy, middle names have been used since the late 17th century (and possibly earlier), as exemplified in the name of the Stuart pretender James Francis Edward Stuart (1688–1766). Despite their relatively long existence in North America, the term ''middle name'' was not recorded until 1835, in the periodical '' Harvardiana''.

Not every name that stands as the middle word in a three-name string is a middle name. Major classes of this theme are as follows:
* When part of a two-word given name: for example, ''Mary Anne'' and ''Jo Anne''.
* When part of a two-word surname, that is, a compound surname: for example, David Lloyd George or Henry Bence Jones, whose surnames are open compounds (that is, ''Bence'' is not his middle name; ''Bence Jones'' is his compound surname).
* A maiden name expressed: for example, Hillary Clinton (''nee'' Rodham) is sometimes known as ''Hillary Rodham Clinton''.
* A patronymic in any of various Slavic languages, including Russian and Bulgarian, such as '' Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev'', is not normally considered a middle name. Russian language and culture has certain norms for when someone is to be called by their given name plus patronymic versus a title plus the surname (for example, ''Nikita Sergeyevich'' versus ''Mr. Khrushchev''). The distinction is similar to the T–V distinction. See also eastern Slavic naming customs.
* Traditional Québécois names: Traditionally, Roman Catholic Québécois, Franco-Ontarian, and Franco-Manitoban children were given three names, the first being Joseph or Marie, the second the godfather's or godmother's name, and the third the name chosen by the parents for the child. Examples include Jean Chrétien (Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien) and Gabrielle Roy (Marie Rose Emma Gabrielle Roy). Some children (especially those with English mothers) were given extra names that could serve as middle names in the anglophone tradition; for example, Pierre Elliott Trudeau (Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau). These traditions became less common after the Quiet Revolution.

In the U.S., the middle name is often abbreviated to the middle initial (e.g. Mary Lee Bianchi becomes Mary L. Bianchi). This is usually standard for signatures or omitted entirely in everyday use (e.g. just Mary Bianchi). An individual may have more than one middle name, or none. In the United Kingdom, for comparison, she would usually be referred to as either Mary Bianchi, M. L. Bianchi or Mary Lee Bianchi, or she may choose Lee Bianchi, and informally there may be familiar shortenings.

In countries that primarily speak English—such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom—the forename of a relative is sometimes used as one's middle name to honor familial heritage. Typical examples are a father named John William Smith whose son is named Thomas John Smith or a grandmother named Mary Grace Tilley whose granddaughter is named Ashley Mary Smith. In many cases in the United States, however, a person's middle name does not derive from relatives, but is used instead to honor close family friends or notable public figures. A rare case of an individual being given only an initial as a middle name, with the initial not explicitly standing for anything, was Harry S. Truman. (He once told reporters—apparently at odds with his own practice—that the S should thus not be followed by period.) Other people with single-letter middle names include Robert B. Hollander Jr. and Mark M Davis.

More than two given names are fairly common. In England, they are traditionally more common among the upper and middle classes.

There is a minor tradition in English-speaking countries whereby maiden names from the family tree that are especially celebrated by the family are carried into succeeding generations as middle names or as given names, whereas the tradition of married names would otherwise obliterate them. For example, this is how the first name of Johns Hopkins came to have the terminal ''-s'' that differentiates it from ''John''; ''Johns'' was the surname of some of his ancestors. It is also how Robert Strange McNamara got his middle name (it was his mother's maiden name). There is some overlap between open-compound surnames and maiden-names-as-middle-names; in various cases the same motivation (preserving maiden names from oblivion) has produced both such kinds of names, and there are instances from the nineteenth century that are ambiguous today as to how the bearers of a name thus inspired parsed it themselves (either as part of a compound surname or as a middle name).

The abbreviation "N.M.N." (no middle name) or "N.M.I." (no middle initial), with or without periods, is sometimes used in formal documents in the United States, where a middle initial or name is expected but the person does not have one. Rarely a person may assign themselves a middle initial to overcome the problems imposed by systems whose design failed to properly handle the absence of one or the ambiguity of human names' being non-unique. For example, David X. Cohen assigned himself a new middle initial to overcome a flaw in a system that failed to handle the ambiguity of human names properly (he was David S. Cohen but the system could not enter him because another David S. Cohen was already entered therein; using "X." circumvented the problem).

A middle name that is rather unusual among English speakers is that of Jennifer 8. Lee, an American author. Lee was not given a middle name at birth so she chose "8" when she was a teenager, in a nod to her Chinese ancestry; in Chinese culture, the number eight symbolizes prosperity and good luck.

Middle name as primary forename

In England and the United States, some who choose to be known primarily by their middle name abbreviate their first name as an initial, e.g. J. Edgar Hoover (John Edgar Hoover), J. Paul Getty (John Paul Getty), and F. Scott Fitzgerald (Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald).

Many others simply omit the first name in regular usage, treating their middle name like a first name, e.g. Woodrow Wilson (Thomas Woodrow Wilson). It is increasingly common within political fields, with many U.S. politicians using their middle name as a first name - for example, Mitch McConnell (Addison Mitchell McConnell), Mitt Romney (Willard Mitt Romney), Jon Ossoff (Thomas Jonathan Ossoff), Jon Tester (Raymond Jon Tester), Ted Cruz (Rafael Edward Cruz) and Mike Rounds (Marion Michael Rounds) are all sitting U.S. Senators who use their middle names as first names.

In Britain, many politicians, including several Prime Ministers, have been known primarily by their middle name, or one of their middle names. Examples include Neville Chamberlain (Arthur Neville Chamberlain), Jim Callaghan (Leonard James Callaghan), Ramsay MacDonald (James Ramsay MacDonald), Keir Hardie (James Keir Hardie), Enoch Powell (John Enoch Powell), Vince Cable (John Vincent Cable), Gordon Brown (James Gordon Brown), Boris Johnson (Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson), and Liz Truss (Mary Elizabeth Truss).

In Germany, during the Nazi period, several Nazis were known by their middle names. Examples include Joseph Goebbels (Paul Joseph Goebbels), Adolf Eichmann (Otto Adolf Eichmann), Erwin Rommel (Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel), Hermann Fegelein (Hans Otto Georg Hermann Fegelein), Magda Goebbels (Johanna Maria Magdalena Goebbels) and Joachim von Ribbentrop (Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim Ribbentrop).

Chinese

Traditionally, Chinese names consisted of three characters—the surname, followed by a two-character given name (''ming''), which is not separated into a first and middle name in usage. Two-character given names follow a naming tradition in which the first character of the given name (and thus the second character in the three-character full name) indicates the person's generation in his/her family. For example, the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing dynasty has the given name ''Yinzhen'' (胤禛) while his brothers' names all begin with the character "Yin" (胤). His sons' and nephews' given names all begin with the character ''Hong'' (弘). Traditionally, the list of generational names may be decided many generations in advance by the ancestors. In such naming systems, the de facto given name is the last character of a person's full name. Even if that was the case most of the time, sometimes the person's given name is the middle character and not the last. A three-character name is both patriarchal and hierarchical, as it would inform of a person's belonging and rank within a family. During the One-child Policy, there was no need for a generation name as there was only one child in each generation. Many names in Mainland China were shortened to two-characters during this time, and there are many adults with shorter names remnant from this era. This would not be found in Taiwan or Hong Kong.

A fading Chinese tradition is to use a courtesy name, called ''zì'' (字) in place of a male's given name in adulthood. Traditionally ''zì'' is given by one's father upon reaching the age of maturity at 20 years old. This name is intended for use in formal situations and formal writing and confers a status of adulthood and respect. Like the ''ming'', the ''zì'' is composed of two characters which usually reflect the meaning of the ''ming''. Prior to the 20th century, sinicized Koreans, Vietnamese, and Japanese were also referred to by their ''zì''. An alternative courtesy name is the ''hào'' (; Japanese gō; Korean: ho; Vietnamese: hiệu), which usually referred to as the pseudonym. A ''hào'' was usually self-chosen and it was possible to have more than one. It had no connection with the bearer's ''míng'' or ''zì''; rather it was often a personal choice and may have reflected a personal belief or philosophy. Chinese adults may more frequently use the ''hào'' to refer to themselves. The ''zì'' or ''hào'' can be used independently of the given name and of each other, but the given name is almost always used with the family name in official situations.

Some Chinese Americans move their Chinese given name (transliterated into the Latin alphabet) to the middle name position and use an English first name, e.g. James Chu-yu Soong, Jerry Chih-Yuan Yang, and Michelle Wingshan Kwan. The Chinese given name usually has two characters which are usually combined into a single middle name for better organizational purposes, especially with Cantonese names, such as Bruce Lee's middle name, Junfan. There are also some new immigrants whose Chinese given names are their first names followed by English middle names.

The practice of taking English and Chinese given names is also common in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. However, rather than placing the Chinese given name between the English given name and the family name, it is commonly placed after the family name in these places. Under such a system, Bruce Junfan Lee would have been Bruce Lee Junfan. This practice is consistent with both the Western convention of putting the given name before the family name and the Chinese convention of putting the given name after the family name.

Indian languages

Traditional names in India vary regionally due to its ethnic and religious diversity. Modern Hindu names across India adopt a first name, which is usually a word in Sanskrit or an indigenous Indian language, a middle name, which is the name of a child's father or spouse in case of a married lady followed by the surname which is usually the caste that the person's family belongs to, usually taken from the father or husband. However, diversity exists even here, for instance middle and last names from the traditionally matrilineal Nair community in Kerala are based on the mother's family. For example, in the case of the well-known statesman, VK Krishna Menon, his first name would be Krishna, the V stands for Vengyalil, which is a well known aristocratic Nair family from Kerala that Krishna's mother belonged to, the K stands for Krishnan, his father's name and the surname is Menon, one of the Nair subcastes. In modern times, this name would perhaps be styled as Krishna Vengyalil Krishnan Menon, in that order, Vengyalil Krishnan being the middle name. Traditionally the Dalit population of India were excluded from India's caste system and do not have a middle name and a caste surname. The same is true for people who have given up their caste identity, whose name just includes the person's first name followed by their father's name. Sometimes, the place of birth of an individual is included as their middle name.
Among the Sikhs of India, many have adopted the middle name Singh or Kaur which mean lion and princess respectively. This is followed by their Punjabi caste surname. Nowadays, many Sikhs have done away with their caste surname and have just kept Singh or Kaur as their surname.

Among Indian Muslims, similar naming conventions to Hindus and Sikhs are followed, but the names are usually in Arabic, Persian or Urdu

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