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.

My mom has two first names and no middle name. I also have an ex boyfriend who only had a middle initial ("K"). Always found that kind of endearing.

Middle names are whatever you want them to be. I have two, my husband has zero.

Neither DH nor I have a middle name - not necessary at all

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

Is it a Christian/Saints name with an English equivalent? Lots of people go by the English equivalent of their names if they want. Bullying over names isn't a thing I've seen.

Why not give a middle name? I love names, surely you had a backup name for your son that you almost named him? Make that the middle.

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

Well if you give a common name he can go by the American version. Ie Robert for Roberto. I dont think kids make fun of names as much especially in DC area.

Anonymous wrote:Me and my husband immigrated from Europe where the middle names are not that common. Here iin America, everyone seems to have one. Do you think it would be weird for an American child to grow up without a middle name ?

No you do not need a middle name.

I definitely would give your son a middle name. What about your maiden name? Your DH's first name?

My best friend jokes that her parents didn't love her enough to give her a middle name. She made up one so that she could have stuff monogrammed.

It's most definitely NOT required. Plenty of people don't have them.

Your son can always use an Americanized version of his Italian name, or make up one. Or use a nickname based on his last name. So many possibilities for nicknames - I imagine it's rather unusual to use a middle name as an alternate name (as opposed to something entirely made up or based on first/last name).

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

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

It doesn’t matter.

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.

I did not have a middle name and neither did my sister. We do now that we have taken on married names (our maiden name is both of our middle names). They are 100% not important.

Me and my husband immigrated from Europe where the middle names are not that common. Here iin America, everyone seems to have one. Do you think it would be weird for an American child to grow up without a middle name ?