Middle name is a must?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about one family name as middle name and the other family name as last name?

OP here...both family names are too long and too Italian...and the first name is too long. imagine spelling that kind of name over the phone? I do hope that in the future there will be some sort of voice recognition accurate enough to get the names right from the first run

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My American husband (age 51) doesn't have one and honestly it makes things - filling out forms, etc. - easier. His parents didn't like theirs so didn't give him one.

OP here...makes sense but what if my son will not like his typical Italian name (we are Italians) and I should give him an American middle name as an option. Obviously I never went to school here but I heard bullying in schools is a real thing

You can do whatever you want.

I know several immigrants (mostly Asian) who gave their children an American first name and a Chinese/Korean/etc middle name so they would be comfortable in both cultures. I’m South American and DH is European — we just picked names that worked in our native languages and English. I have a hard time imagining an Italian name that doesn’t have a close English counterpart. A boy named Vincenzo could easily decide to go by Vincent without needing an American middle name.

There’s no “wrong” answer here. Do what you like most.

OP. here ..If it were only up to me I would name my son Jack )) but the son is the first born and it will break so many fragile old hearts to give a son a name that is different from his grandpa's (traditions are strong in our families)

[Anonymous]

There can be weird administrative issues if you don't, as the overwhelming majority of americans do have middle names. For example, my law firm and my law school both had user IDs that incorporated all three initials (for example, John Doyle Smith would be JDS48). I have a middle name but do not generally use it. I asked if I could just use my first and last, and they made it clear that it would be really complicated.

One option, which probably seems even weirder, but actually makes some things easier, is to just give a middle initial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There can be weird administrative issues if you don't, as the overwhelming majority of americans do have middle names. For example, my law firm and my law school both had user IDs that incorporated all three initials (for example, John Doyle Smith would be JDS48). I have a middle name but do not generally use it. I asked if I could just use my first and last, and they made it clear that it would be really complicated.

One option, which probably seems even weirder, but actually makes some things easier, is to just give a middle initial.

OP here...yeah, I am thinking about one letter as a compromise. "J" looks like the most obvious option given its sound, someone mentioned "K "- not bad as well

[Anonymous]

Ethnically Italian here. I don’t think it’s a must, but it’s a privilege. I wish I had a second name.

You can use a cosmopolitan(or “Italo-cosmopolitan”) name as the middle one.

Giovanni Rocco, Ludovico Ivan, Vincenzo Luca, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My American husband (age 51) doesn't have one and honestly it makes things - filling out forms, etc. - easier. His parents didn't like theirs so didn't give him one.

OP here...makes sense but what if my son will not like his typical Italian name (we are Italians) and I should give him an American middle name as an option. Obviously I never went to school here but I heard bullying in schools is a real thing

You can do whatever you want.

I know several immigrants (mostly Asian) who gave their children an American first name and a Chinese/Korean/etc middle name so they would be comfortable in both cultures. I’m South American and DH is European — we just picked names that worked in our native languages and English. I have a hard time imagining an Italian name that doesn’t have a close English counterpart. A boy named Vincenzo could easily decide to go by Vincent without needing an American middle name.

There’s no “wrong” answer here. Do what you like most.

OP. here ..If it were only up to me I would name my son Jack )) but the son is the first born and it will break so many fragile old hearts to give a son a name that is different from his grandpa's (traditions are strong in our families)

Sounds like Jack would be a great middle name, then! Or if you want to be formal, John is the name which traditionally led to the nickname Jack.

[Anonymous]

Uncommon yes, but not unheard of. My grandmother didn’t have a middle name. She was born during the depression and always joked that her parents were too poor to give her a middle name

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uncommon yes, but not unheard of. My grandmother didn’t have a middle name. She was born during the depression and always joked that her parents were too poor to give her a middle name

I love that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ethnically Italian here. I don’t think it’s a must, but it’s a privilege. I wish I had a second name.

You can use a cosmopolitan(or “Italo-cosmopolitan”) name as the middle one.

Giovanni Rocco, Ludovico Ivan, Vincenzo Luca, etc.

What does this mean? So curious...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ethnically Italian here. I don’t think it’s a must, but it’s a privilege. I wish I had a second name.

You can use a cosmopolitan(or “Italo-cosmopolitan”) name as the middle one.

Giovanni Rocco, Ludovico Ivan, Vincenzo Luca, etc.

What does this mean? So curious...

“Italo-cosmopolitan” I probably invented. I meant names used in many cultures(Gabriel, Martin, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about one family name as middle name and the other family name as last name?

This is what we did. It works well though I don't love DD's middle (which is my last name, so I didn't expect not to like it for her but I don't). But one thing I've learned is that no one cares about middle names once you are past the baby phase. They are mostly for birth announcements and then people stop asking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ethnically Italian here. I don’t think it’s a must, but it’s a privilege. I wish I had a second name.

You can use a cosmopolitan(or “Italo-cosmopolitan”) name as the middle one.

Giovanni Rocco, Ludovico Ivan, Vincenzo Luca, etc.

What does this mean? So curious...

“Italo-cosmopolitan” I probably invented. I meant names used in many cultures(Gabriel, Martin, etc).

Same poster. Gabriel and Martin would be “cosmopolitan”. The “Italo-cosmopolitan” ones would be Leonardo, Luca, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ethnically Italian here. I don’t think it’s a must, but it’s a privilege. I wish I had a second name.

You can use a cosmopolitan(or “Italo-cosmopolitan”) name as the middle one.

Giovanni Rocco, Ludovico Ivan, Vincenzo Luca, etc.

OP here....All good options, but don't you want a second name to sound more American? Someone mentioned Asians, and yes I have noticed all my Asian friends gave their kids an American name as the first and an Asian(-ish) as the middle

[Anonymous]

OP, the logistical fuss of having no middle names isn't that big a deal (I have two, and frequently use none when the forms only allow for a single middle initial). I would also not be concerned about teasing; many Americans have non-English variants of European names (Katerina, Tereza, Yoni, etc.) and I don't think it makes kids a target for teasing. That being said, if you want to call your baby Jack, by all means give him Jack or John as a middle name, so you get the name you like as well as respecting family tradition!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ethnically Italian here. I don’t think it’s a must, but it’s a privilege. I wish I had a second name.

You can use a cosmopolitan(or “Italo-cosmopolitan”) name as the middle one.

Giovanni Rocco, Ludovico Ivan, Vincenzo Luca, etc.

OP here....All good options, but don't you want a second name to sound more American? Someone mentioned Asians, and yes I have noticed all my Asian friends gave their kids an American name as the first and an Asian(-ish) as the middle

I have never encountered bullying based on names, and my kids have unusual-to-Americans European names.

Bullying may be more of an issue for kids of Asian descent, and there are also pronunciation challenges that would not be in play for most European names.