Monday, August 6, 2007

The History of Middle Names


Your first name defines you before you have a chance to define yourself. While knowing someone’s first name seems like trivial information, knowing someone’s middle name is a different story. Middle names are mysterious, and intriguing. It’s as though you need a special pass to know what someone’s middle name is, and once you do, there is a new view of this person, a secret that has been uncovered. 


When someone is asked what their middle name is, a glow of anticipation comes across their face, because posing that question is an invitation to a private knowledge that we hold tightly between two public names. Often, there is a story of why they were given that name, who they were named after, what that person meant to their family, and what it has meant for them to carry that name. 


Middle names are as common as Apple Pie in America, but they are not native to this country. Middle names are actually a modern custom in America. In Germany during the fifteenth century, nobility used middle names as a status symbol. They played such a key role in Germany that children were known solely by their middle name. 


In other parts of the world middle names were used to give siblings separate identities. When infant mortality was high, children commonly shared their parent’s name in an effort to keep the family names alive. For example, if the father’s name was John, the first son might be named John Joseph, and the second son John Patrick. The same would be true for the daughters. This explains why there were so many Rose Marys, and Rose Anns.


In America; however, parents gave their children only two names. It wasn’t until the early 19th century several hundred years after German immigrants introduced the tradition to America that giving a child a middle name became commonplace. Even some of the most infamous icons in American History were without middle names. Figures such as; George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson did not have middle names. 


By World War I, it was safe to assume that everyone in America had a middle name. One of the first trends was to use the mother's maiden name as a middle name to avoid the loss of her family surname. In religious families another trend was to give a string of middle names to a child to honor ancestors, godparents, and loved ones. Often, one of the middle names would correspond to the name of the Saint whose feast day corresponded to the individual's birthday.


Nowadays in America there is no clear trend for middle names. There are no rules, anything goes. Some children are born with one middle name of no ancestral significance while other children have two or three middle names. Perhaps one of the most interesting naming trends is found in the world of celebrity. 


Since a name can make or break you in Hollywood, stars have a long history of manipulating their names. For instance; everyone is familiar with actress Meg Ryan, but not everyone is familiar with her birth name, Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra. Who knows whether Meg Ryan would have experienced as much success had she stuck with her birth name? John Denver is another example of a celebrity who tampered with his name. John was born Henry John Deutschendorf Junior but, chose to go by his middle name, and who knows where Denver came from? Reese Witherspoon, born Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon also foresaw the negative impact her birth name could potentially have had on her career and opted to use a portion of her middle name as her alias instead.


Take the time to learn about your names, and inquire about the middle names of people you love. You’ll learn something new about them, and if nothing else you’ll hear a good story. If you are one of the poor souls whose parents got it all wrong, and you despise your first name, middle name, or your entire name itself, rest assured that with a few clicks of the mouse and a mere hundred and forty bucks you can go online and legally change your name to anything your heart desires. If that all seems like too much work, change the spelling of your name, or start going by your middle name. Be who you are in every sense. If your name doesn’t capture who that is go for it, all you have to lose is a name that doesn’t suit you.

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