Mother’s Last Name as Baby’s Second Middle Name

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had 4 names in my home country, which included my mom's maiden name.

I tried to do that with my kids here. Submitted 4 names on the form at the hospital... and they deleted my maiden name since it only had room for 3.

How is that even possible? Where were these kids born?
Mine were born in DC and all 4, no one blinked an eye.

All things are possible when we’re talking about imaginary kids in fictional situations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I kept my last name after marrying DH. We’re expecting our first baby now. I’m considering having my last name (one syllable) as a second middle name for the baby. That way, my last name would be part of baby’s official name without dealing with having a hyphenated last name (I don’t want to go the hyphenated last name route). I’d like to keep the first middle name short with a one syllable name as well. Thoughts? Is it a hassle having two middle names?

We did this for both of our kids. It’s truly no big deal. Never been a hassle.

My siblings and I also all have 2 middle names with our mothers last name as the 2nd middle too so I guess we’re carrying on a family tradition at this point.

We did this too without any issues. Kids are older teens now. I kind of wished we switched for my younger child to have my last name and Dad's as second middle. Older DD has a first name from my ethnic background and combined with WASPy last name is interesting. DS has a WASPy first name and just sounds very generic and white for a half-brown child.

Don’t switch names between siblings!

My parents gave us 4 names but gave my brother my father’s last name, and my mother’s name as the second middle name. They switched for me, with my mother’s last name and my father’s name as a middle name.

My brother and I hated having different names. It was confusing in school where teachers knew we were siblings, but assumed our names must be hyphenated to match each other. When I turned 18, I changed my name, dropping my mother name entirely and taking my dad’s last name to share a family name with my brother and extended family that I was closest to. My brother never uses the second middle name, using only one middle initial. So my mother’s last name was erased, it caused us distress as children, and set us up as choosing between families. Kids deserve to share a name with their siblings, whatever choices the parents make about hyphenating or middle names.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I kept my last name after marrying DH. We’re expecting our first baby now. I’m considering having my last name (one syllable) as a second middle name for the baby. That way, my last name would be part of baby’s official name without dealing with having a hyphenated last name (I don’t want to go the hyphenated last name route). I’d like to keep the first middle name short with a one syllable name as well. Thoughts? Is it a hassle having two middle names?

We did this for both of our kids. It’s truly no big deal. Never been a hassle.

My siblings and I also all have 2 middle names with our mothers last name as the 2nd middle too so I guess we’re carrying on a family tradition at this point.

We did this too without any issues. Kids are older teens now. I kind of wished we switched for my younger child to have my last name and Dad's as second middle. Older DD has a first name from my ethnic background and combined with WASPy last name is interesting. DS has a WASPy first name and just sounds very generic and white for a half-brown child.

Don’t switch names between siblings!

My parents gave us 4 names but gave my brother my father’s last name, and my mother’s name as the second middle name. They switched for me, with my mother’s last name and my father’s name as a middle name.

My brother and I hated having different names. It was confusing in school where teachers knew we were siblings, but assumed our names must be hyphenated to match each other. When I turned 18, I changed my name, dropping my mother name entirely and taking my dad’s last name to share a family name with my brother and extended family that I was closest to. My brother never uses the second middle name, using only one middle initial. So my mother’s last name was erased, it caused us distress as children, and set us up as choosing between families. Kids deserve to share a name with their siblings, whatever choices the parents make about hyphenating or middle names.

Wow. Sounds like you really don't care for your mother. You just sound exasperated that your parents tried to honor your mother's name in naming their children, rather than just reproduce patriarchal naming conventions. Did you and your brother ever consider changing to your mother's last name if you felt so strongly about being the same?

[Anonymous]

I didn't read the whole thread, but just wanted to say we did this with both our kids and it hasn't caused any problems. They have passports, social security cards, have registered for school, etc. with their full four-part names.

We wanted two middle names because we wanted to honor grandparents with the first middle name while also preserving my last name. So we just did it. And it has been fine.

I will say that, for almost all purposes, they are just [FIRSTNAME] [HUSBAND LASTNAME].

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did this and as the kids are near adults I am so glad that I did. They like it too (they have told me). We actually did four names: First Middle MyLastName HisLastName.

We did this too. Only hassle has been that some computerized forms (eg at school) that don't have a big enough field for all the letters of two middle names. It helped when I traveled with the kids without my husband because my surname was part of their name on their passport.

My husband has three middle names, so two didn't seem too extreme!