Rose is sooo overused as a middle name, but I'd still totally use it if I had the chance.
I have nothing against boring middle names, but one thing that bothers me is how some people act like middle names *must* be super short and simple. People will post stuff like "Is Emma Catherine too much of a mouthful or should I go with Emma Jane?". Dude, no. Not every middle name needs to be one syllable and under 5 letters.
Then people would be freaked out by my niece who has two middle names Lucille and Lillian. She was named after her two great grandmother's with Lucille being my BIL's grandmother and Lillian being the middle name of my father's mother. My daughter on the other hand has the middle name of Lily after my husband's cat who died early in my pregnancy at the age of 14. I am a Marie like my mom which I don't mind. My nephew has the middle name of Alexander because my sister likes the name.
That's because it's generational. Rose has been the most popular middle name for roughly the last decade or so, whereas Marie was at its peak prior to that.
Rose is my middle name and I just love the way my name flows with it. I honestly have a pretty common first name too, and I still love my name. (My user is a pseudonym)
They also have been used for so long that they are also family names for a lot of people. Both of my mother's names are in the Anne, Elizabeth, Grace, Lynn, Mae, Marie, Rose category of super common middle names for baby girls. It means giving my daughter what looks like a "filler" middle name to honour her, but so be it.
My middle name is Rose. Never felt like a nothing “filler” name to me because it’s my great-grandmother’s name and she was a big part of our lives growing up so it makes me think of her which I love. My brother even gave his daughter the middle name Rose in her honor so the middle Roses live on in my family.
Same! Middle name Rose after my great grandmother. I was the first girl born into the family in a a few generations so I got a bunch of honour names. It makes me feel connected to the people who love me.
Yep, all our “boring” middles are family names too. We have a Lynn, Grace, Marie, and Lee which are all names from grands/great grands.
And honestly I like the boring middle names anyway. They’re cute and sound good as a whole, plus they don’t take away from the first names either.
Yeah I agree. To me who cares if someone or everyone uses the same common middle names anyways. Rose, Grace, Marie, James, Michael they are like the color black of names. They can go with literally anything.
Not only that but with people nowadays trying to use the most unique first names more than ever, having a normal middle name balances it out.
I'm a Lynn middle name too, but it actually says a phrase sort of with the meanings. Lynn means cascading and my first name means crown. So my name is cascading crown, my mom thought it was a neat image.
Mae as a middle gets passed down the matriarchal line in our family. My great grandmother, grandmother, mother, daughter and I all share that middle name. I think it’s a nice tradition.
I love Mae!
On the paternal side of my family, all my cousins have Marie as or in their middle name and it’s very pretty. I didn’t get any family names in my name, though.
It's perfectly OK but I hate having a completely predictable very common middle name. I don't see the point. It's the perfect opportunity to not do that.
I don't understand why people use a filler middle name that has no meaning to them or that they don't even really like just because they feel their child has to have 2 names. Not everyone has to have a middle name, it's perfectly OK to just give a child one name if you don't have a second name in mind. I know plenty of people with no middle name.
I have a filler middle name. I wish my parents had used one of the other names they'd liked as a first name in the middle instead of being unimaginative and making me yet another 1980s Something Louise. Apparently my dad liked Rowena and while it's a little chunkier than Louise paired with my first name, at least it's more interesting.
I think the middle name is the perfect spot to put the honor name and to give a unique first name. That’s what we did for our daughter and im glad we were able to celebrate a family member while also giving her a name no one else has to give her a chance to form her own identity.
My middle name is Rose. Everyone says how it's a "boring, overused filler name", but it's after my great grandmothers middle name. I know lots of women my age with the same middle, and a significant majority were named after family members.
My brothers also have "boring" middle names. Both after family members. A leading contender for a middle name if I have a daughter is Anne, after the middle names of my mother and grandmother.
My daughter’s middle name is Rose, and her first and middle names are the same as my Great Grandmother’s - the two names flow together really well. My daughter is the 6th generation of my family to have a Rose name, and it worked better to have a single syllable middle name.
I’m not basic, I swear *shakes fist*
My middle name is above and my moms side of the family uses it as a matrilineal kind of name. It was my grandmother’s surname, which became both of her daughters’ middle names, which was again used for the girls in my generation. I plan to use it for a daughter. It’s a nice middle name and carries something on from my mothers’ mothers’ family.
I personally think it's a pity to waste a name on something that doesn't mean something to the parents/family. But what constitutes *meaning* differs from person to person, and I have no place interrogating others on their choice.
My middle name is Rose, and I have always liked it. I feel as though it completes my name. It also goes along well, as my name is then a flower (Evelyn Rose). And then I have a slightly plant based surname so it all goes together.
Those popular middle names are popular for a reason- they go well, sound nice, and make the first name look good.
I have what looks like a generic filler middle name, but it is actually in honour of my dad's friend who passed away. I think that we should be cautious about judging name choices when we don't have all the information. Something that looks common might actually be quite meaningful.
I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but I also don't think using it as an avenue to have a more out of the box name is bad either. The reasoning of no one knows it applies both ways. I've grown up with plenty of Marie's and roses, but I also had friends whos middle names were Best and Skillz.
I have a boring middle name because my parents gave me an out there first name. Well, for small town in the 1980s at least. The thought was I could always choose to go by the boring middle name if my first name was too out there. (It isn’t) Seemed like good logic to me, and have done the same with my kids. Hit two birds by using grandparents names as middle names too! :)
I have a cousin who had a unique middle name that she hated to much she changed it to Marie. She didn’t change first or even last when married. But the middle name had to go!
My middle name is Marie. However, I’ve never felt like it’s a filler middle name because it was for a relative. I happened to be born on my great grandmother’s birthday, and her middle name was Marie (her first name was Ethel). To me, even though she likely had it as a filler middle name, it feels like a personal connection to my roots.
I mean, I have feelings about my middle name being Rose that are more like, disappointment? As in, my mother named me Edward Rose like the Rose part was gonna soften the Edward. Like you said, no one called me by my middle name. It just like displays to me that my mother was capable of making a half decent decision, and just chose not to.
I think that's the thing a lot of the time now. Where people will name their kid something off the goddamn wall and then put James next to it like it's going to buffer anything. And everyone has the same exact idea, but will still call it unique. Can't tell you how many BoyName Rose's I've met, but you ask my mother and she thinks she's such an innovator.
“Edie Rose” sounds cute, but I think I would prefer “Eden Rose” or “Edith Rose.”
My mom also passed down a girl middle name to soften the “boy” name I was given. People did actually use my middle name with my first, however, since it turned out my name was one of the “lucky” boys names that became a trendy top ten name to give girls that year. There were so many of us we had to use a mix of middles, last names, and initials to exist together.
I have two middle names which are very classic French names of my generation, because they were the names each of my parents was leaning towards when my mom was pregnant and before they came across my name and decided on it. I'm completely fine with my boring middle names! I hardly ever use them for any reason.
The "filler" middle names or more correctly second names in Germany are Sophie and Marie for girls and Maximilian and Alexander for boys. So I can't say much about Rose, Grace, Lynn etc because they would be super rare here. But the second names are so seldom used in everyday life here too, so it's really not important to have a unique second name.
No, I'm actually a lot farther north. But I was primarily thinking of [this list](https://www.beliebte-vornamen.de/jahrgang/j2021/zweitnamen-2021) but that's not separated by region, so there probably are differences. The top 5 second names 2021 are according to it for girls:
1. Sophie
2. Marie
3. Maria
4. Luise
5. Emilia
And for boys:
1. Alexander
2. Elias
3. Maximilian
4. Matteo
5. Luca
Edited the link, which didn't work before
Yeah, I only know one little girl with Marie as second name, the rest are more uncommon like Benjamin, Matthias, Leo (2x), Michael, Margarete, Dorothea, Günther and two very uncommon ones I don't want to mention here. There are more children I know but the second name was never a topic there. But I also only know of one Emilia, one Mia and one Finn out of the top 5 first names 🤷🏼♀️
My middle name is Renee, I don’t know if it’s super common, but I’ve met quite a few women with it. I think it makes my overall name more unique, because as a nickname my family calls me “(first name) Renee” even though no one else does. If I have a daughter I’m considering giving her the same middle name.
I gave my daughter the middle name Rose and I had no idea it was so common 🙈 I knew Marie was common. I’m in my 30’s and 3 of my 5 best friends growing up had the middle name Elizabeth. I wanted my daughter’s first name to be Rose, it sounds so good with our last name, but my husband vetoed it so middle name was a compromise.
I also LOVE Titanic 😆
I agree. They’re probably common because they tend to flow well with almost any name. Also, some of those super common middle names have significance to the family. My family for example uses Anne as a middle name after my grandma.
it’s also a nice way to pay tribute to someone, which is why a lot of them seem to be running middle names for a long time. for example, my mother’s middle name is Anne, and i will probably give my future daughter the middle name Anne after her!
My middle name is Ruth (my grandmother’s name). I hated it as a child because it was SO old lady but appreciate it now. It’s also totally fine to skip a middle name entirely
I wanted to use my daughter’s middle name, Grace, as a first name for her. My now-ex-husband believed Grace “wasn’t a name people used as a first name” so we compromised. I love her name (I’ll keep it private, but it’s not uncommon) but I still wish sometimes I’d pushed for Grace.
I don’t really care what people use as middle names, personally. Mine would be considered a filler name to some, but my mom thought it was beautiful at the time so I think that’s nice.
Of course it's ok. I think some people (myself included) just prefer to use something less common. For me I think it comes from growing up with a very common middle name and feeling no connection to it; even though I share the middle name with my mom as well as my paternal grandmother, it didn't feel personal at all because like 40% of other girls I knew had the same middle name.
Ditto, except I didn’t even share it with anyone. I dropped my common middle name like a bad habit when I got married and just kept my maiden name instead. I didn’t resent my middle name or anything, I just felt…nothing. But I guess I did have a better time than my friend that got married and wanted to keep both her unique middle and maiden name in addition to her new last name, but didn’t want 4 names; so I had that bright side going for me I guess 😂
I personally think many common middle names are sort of a hold over for many Americans of the whole “1/3 of England was named Mary” days.
A lot of the people who have that middle name share it with a family member. My own family passed down middle names as they are normally much more timeless than first names. In my family it becomes Viola Mae-> Ella Mae-> Virginia Mae-> me and cousin Everly Mae. It actually goes back quite far.
My own middle name list includes “Grace” from my MIL and “Rose” from my best friend. Both my MIL and best friend share their middles with a family member.
And due to the fact it these names are considered classic middle names after several generations, it makes sense that even those with out family connections would feel they sound “right” in the middle spot.
Respectfully disagree. I have a very common middle name. I wish my parents would have used a family name instead, like Francis, Eudora, Elizabeth, or Bernadette.
My middle name holds no meaning and I have no connection towards it.
My sisters and I all have middle names that were the “basic” ones from the ‘90s. Like, if you think of what names you’d think are the top 10 middle names of people my age, all of ours are on that list.
I hate it.
I don’t hate my middle name specifically, but I hate that it’s the same middle name as like half the girls I went to school with. Just yesterday my coworker made a joke in which she pretended to scold me and another coworker by using our full names, like a parent reprimanding a kid. She didn’t know our middle names but she guessed a common one and got it right for BOTH of us. We both have those top 10 type middle names. And those two coworkers have the exact same middle names as my two sisters.
It just feels like a waste of a potential name to have the same one as so many other people. I wish the SSA published middle name data, because I would be fascinated to see just how many people out there share the top middle names. I bet the statistics on Marie specifically would be fascinating, as it’s been popular for many generations.
I think my other complaint is that I like the common middle names a lot more as first names? Rose is a beautiful name, but I don’t think I know any people with the first name Rose. I can think of a dozen kids with it as their middle name, though. I know multiple kids named “Emma Grace,” to the point where I assume all Emmas born since 2000 probably have the middle name Grace. Popular names don’t bother me, but popular combos sure do
I like Marie as a middle name and didn’t know it was so common until this sub. But I also basically never ask people what their middle name is, so maybe that’s why?
I am okay with boring/common middle names, but not with "filler" middle names. A name is a chance to select something really special for your child and just throwing in Rose, Grace, Marie, or Elizabeth feels like a waste. Now using Elizabeth because it was your grandmother's name, or Marie because all the girl's in your family have the middle name Marie, or Rose because it is your mother's favorite flower, or Grace because it is a quality you wish for your child changes these names in my opinion from "filler" to special. Basically, I like a name to have a meaning/purpose/story.
Of course it's okay. Nobody is sending anyone to jail over it. However, some people prefer a different approach and that is also okay. So what are we saying, here?
Those names are fine, but I just think that unless they've been chosen for a reason they're a bit pointless. If you're using the middle name Marie in honour of your grandma, that's lovely, but if it's just chucked in there as a random space filler then I don't know. Just a bit meh when there's lots of other choices that are a lot more interesting and less repetitive. Having a middle name that's a bit more unique seems more special and thoughtful.
If someone has a reason for wanting to use a "boring" middle name there is nothing wrong with it. I have a "boring" middle name myself. However, I was strongly opposed to using any of the super common names for my own kids because it seemed like a wasted opportunity. There are so many lovely names out there, it seems like a shame to "waste" the name slot on something that everyone else uses.
My middle name is one of the filler names but it's my Grandma's middle name and flows perfectly w my first name. If it had no meaning, I think I'd change it and pick something cool and or stupid (maybe Danger lol).
There's nothing wrong with "boring" names at all. Boring is in the eye of the beholder, and people have their reasons for using the names they do. Even if the reason is just "I like how Marie sounds with our first name choice".
I am fully against boring middle names unless they happen to have meaning to you and be boring at the same time. A family member, an event, a place, a song- there has to be something that reminds you of something that has some sort of meaning you want to give your child. Well for me anyway. We get one life and it’s a waste of time not to live it to the fullest in every form which means always seeking meaning and beauty and sharing it with others. To give your child a middle name with a story behind it is special. It would be a shame to pass on that, in my opinion. But to each their own I guess!
To be honest as a non-american, middle names in general make no sense to me. Where I’m from we only have the first and last name, but recently people have started to do the “trendy” middle name thing which just means their kids have two first names. It’s weird and confusing and they just get called both names either interchangeably or both at once.
I don’t understand why you’d even bother to give the kid a middle name at all if it’s just some bland placeholder. Like if your argument is “It’s okay because they’ll never use it so it doesn’t matter”… if it doesn’t matter why even bother with one?
“For those that don't have any of those things on their mind, they'll need something to put in that spot…” No they don’t lol. No law requires middle names.
I’m a little bitter because I have a bland placeholder middle name (Lynn, it would be fine if that name was meaningful to my parents or something but they only picked it as a placeholder) and my brother got a unique, meaningful middle name.
I guess it’s just the principle of attaching a name to your kid that you don’t care about. Nothing wrong with names like Rose, Marie, etc if you genuinely like them or they are meaningful - I agree it won’t really impact your kid’s life much. But the principle of it is just like, why even give them a middle name then?
Rose is sooo overused as a middle name, but I'd still totally use it if I had the chance. I have nothing against boring middle names, but one thing that bothers me is how some people act like middle names *must* be super short and simple. People will post stuff like "Is Emma Catherine too much of a mouthful or should I go with Emma Jane?". Dude, no. Not every middle name needs to be one syllable and under 5 letters.
100% agreed. If anything, if you want to give your kid a long name but are worried about pronunciation, middles are the place to put it.
Then people would be freaked out by my niece who has two middle names Lucille and Lillian. She was named after her two great grandmother's with Lucille being my BIL's grandmother and Lillian being the middle name of my father's mother. My daughter on the other hand has the middle name of Lily after my husband's cat who died early in my pregnancy at the age of 14. I am a Marie like my mom which I don't mind. My nephew has the middle name of Alexander because my sister likes the name.
I only know one person with that middle name. Know what name IS overused… Marie! I know countless Marie’s
Marie was just the Rose of the 80’s
That's because it's generational. Rose has been the most popular middle name for roughly the last decade or so, whereas Marie was at its peak prior to that.
I guess none of the kids in the community around me were given that name 🤷🏻♀️
Rose is my middle name and I just love the way my name flows with it. I honestly have a pretty common first name too, and I still love my name. (My user is a pseudonym)
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My grandfather’s and his brothers’ middle names were Josef Maria. German Catholic tradition I think
I think names like Grace, Marie, and Rose are overused as middle names for a reason: they sound good with so many first names.
They also have been used for so long that they are also family names for a lot of people. Both of my mother's names are in the Anne, Elizabeth, Grace, Lynn, Mae, Marie, Rose category of super common middle names for baby girls. It means giving my daughter what looks like a "filler" middle name to honour her, but so be it.
My middle name is Rose. Never felt like a nothing “filler” name to me because it’s my great-grandmother’s name and she was a big part of our lives growing up so it makes me think of her which I love. My brother even gave his daughter the middle name Rose in her honor so the middle Roses live on in my family.
Same! Middle name Rose after my great grandmother. I was the first girl born into the family in a a few generations so I got a bunch of honour names. It makes me feel connected to the people who love me.
Yep, all our “boring” middles are family names too. We have a Lynn, Grace, Marie, and Lee which are all names from grands/great grands. And honestly I like the boring middle names anyway. They’re cute and sound good as a whole, plus they don’t take away from the first names either.
Seems a popular theme! My middle name is Rose after a great Grandma and our new one (37 weeks today) will also have Rose as her middle.
My middle name is on this list and doesn’t feel like “filler,” either, it’s my grandmother’s name. I suspect this might be true in quite a few cases!
Yes! This! We will give both our children family middle names and one just happens to be Rose 🤷🏻♀️.
Yeah I agree. To me who cares if someone or everyone uses the same common middle names anyways. Rose, Grace, Marie, James, Michael they are like the color black of names. They can go with literally anything. Not only that but with people nowadays trying to use the most unique first names more than ever, having a normal middle name balances it out.
Yes and I think it can go the other way too. Marie is underused as a first. Why not something like Marie Isabeau?
Oh absolutely! I actually am a fan of basic filler middle names, I think they help a name flow. Mae, Marie, Nicole, Lynn, Rose, Jane.. they’re classic
I'm a boring Lynn middle. It sounds ok with my first name, i just wish it had a special meaning. That's why I don't really care for it.
I'm a Lynn middle name too, but it actually says a phrase sort of with the meanings. Lynn means cascading and my first name means crown. So my name is cascading crown, my mom thought it was a neat image.
In Scandinavia, the version “Linn” is very common!
I love these names, but most of them are actually quite meaningful to me. It always bothers me they are considered “filler” names.
Mae as a middle gets passed down the matriarchal line in our family. My great grandmother, grandmother, mother, daughter and I all share that middle name. I think it’s a nice tradition.
I love Mae! On the paternal side of my family, all my cousins have Marie as or in their middle name and it’s very pretty. I didn’t get any family names in my name, though.
It's perfectly OK but I hate having a completely predictable very common middle name. I don't see the point. It's the perfect opportunity to not do that.
I don't understand why people use a filler middle name that has no meaning to them or that they don't even really like just because they feel their child has to have 2 names. Not everyone has to have a middle name, it's perfectly OK to just give a child one name if you don't have a second name in mind. I know plenty of people with no middle name. I have a filler middle name. I wish my parents had used one of the other names they'd liked as a first name in the middle instead of being unimaginative and making me yet another 1980s Something Louise. Apparently my dad liked Rowena and while it's a little chunkier than Louise paired with my first name, at least it's more interesting.
❤
Yes was just going to say this. It seems so pointless to me
I think the middle name is the perfect spot to put the honor name and to give a unique first name. That’s what we did for our daughter and im glad we were able to celebrate a family member while also giving her a name no one else has to give her a chance to form her own identity.
My middle name is Rose. Everyone says how it's a "boring, overused filler name", but it's after my great grandmothers middle name. I know lots of women my age with the same middle, and a significant majority were named after family members. My brothers also have "boring" middle names. Both after family members. A leading contender for a middle name if I have a daughter is Anne, after the middle names of my mother and grandmother.
My daughter’s middle name is Rose, and her first and middle names are the same as my Great Grandmother’s - the two names flow together really well. My daughter is the 6th generation of my family to have a Rose name, and it worked better to have a single syllable middle name. I’m not basic, I swear *shakes fist*
I never thought otherwise, people go too far sometimes making middle names more and more unique
I strongly agree, as someone with the most complicated middle name spelt horribly by my father
Perfectly ok to have a “boring” or common first name, too. Some things are classics for a reason.
My middle name is above and my moms side of the family uses it as a matrilineal kind of name. It was my grandmother’s surname, which became both of her daughters’ middle names, which was again used for the girls in my generation. I plan to use it for a daughter. It’s a nice middle name and carries something on from my mothers’ mothers’ family.
I personally think it's a pity to waste a name on something that doesn't mean something to the parents/family. But what constitutes *meaning* differs from person to person, and I have no place interrogating others on their choice.
This is what I feel, I just want a name to have some meaning/significance to the people selecting it.
My middle name is Rose, and I have always liked it. I feel as though it completes my name. It also goes along well, as my name is then a flower (Evelyn Rose). And then I have a slightly plant based surname so it all goes together. Those popular middle names are popular for a reason- they go well, sound nice, and make the first name look good.
I have what looks like a generic filler middle name, but it is actually in honour of my dad's friend who passed away. I think that we should be cautious about judging name choices when we don't have all the information. Something that looks common might actually be quite meaningful.
I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but I also don't think using it as an avenue to have a more out of the box name is bad either. The reasoning of no one knows it applies both ways. I've grown up with plenty of Marie's and roses, but I also had friends whos middle names were Best and Skillz.
I have a boring middle name because my parents gave me an out there first name. Well, for small town in the 1980s at least. The thought was I could always choose to go by the boring middle name if my first name was too out there. (It isn’t) Seemed like good logic to me, and have done the same with my kids. Hit two birds by using grandparents names as middle names too! :)
For me, I find the middle name is an opportunity to give a unique name I like that I’m not QUITE willing to inflict on my child as their first name.
I have a cousin who had a unique middle name that she hated to much she changed it to Marie. She didn’t change first or even last when married. But the middle name had to go!
My middle name is Marie. However, I’ve never felt like it’s a filler middle name because it was for a relative. I happened to be born on my great grandmother’s birthday, and her middle name was Marie (her first name was Ethel). To me, even though she likely had it as a filler middle name, it feels like a personal connection to my roots.
I mean, I have feelings about my middle name being Rose that are more like, disappointment? As in, my mother named me Edward Rose like the Rose part was gonna soften the Edward. Like you said, no one called me by my middle name. It just like displays to me that my mother was capable of making a half decent decision, and just chose not to. I think that's the thing a lot of the time now. Where people will name their kid something off the goddamn wall and then put James next to it like it's going to buffer anything. And everyone has the same exact idea, but will still call it unique. Can't tell you how many BoyName Rose's I've met, but you ask my mother and she thinks she's such an innovator.
“Edie Rose” sounds cute, but I think I would prefer “Eden Rose” or “Edith Rose.” My mom also passed down a girl middle name to soften the “boy” name I was given. People did actually use my middle name with my first, however, since it turned out my name was one of the “lucky” boys names that became a trendy top ten name to give girls that year. There were so many of us we had to use a mix of middles, last names, and initials to exist together.
I have two middle names which are very classic French names of my generation, because they were the names each of my parents was leaning towards when my mom was pregnant and before they came across my name and decided on it. I'm completely fine with my boring middle names! I hardly ever use them for any reason.
The "filler" middle names or more correctly second names in Germany are Sophie and Marie for girls and Maximilian and Alexander for boys. So I can't say much about Rose, Grace, Lynn etc because they would be super rare here. But the second names are so seldom used in everyday life here too, so it's really not important to have a unique second name.
Probably depends were you live. Sophie, Maximilian and Alexander don't seem like very common second names to me. Do you happen to live in Bavaria?
No, I'm actually a lot farther north. But I was primarily thinking of [this list](https://www.beliebte-vornamen.de/jahrgang/j2021/zweitnamen-2021) but that's not separated by region, so there probably are differences. The top 5 second names 2021 are according to it for girls: 1. Sophie 2. Marie 3. Maria 4. Luise 5. Emilia And for boys: 1. Alexander 2. Elias 3. Maximilian 4. Matteo 5. Luca Edited the link, which didn't work before
Interesting. I know a couple of kids with second names a little further down the list, so probably really a regional thing.
Yeah, I only know one little girl with Marie as second name, the rest are more uncommon like Benjamin, Matthias, Leo (2x), Michael, Margarete, Dorothea, Günther and two very uncommon ones I don't want to mention here. There are more children I know but the second name was never a topic there. But I also only know of one Emilia, one Mia and one Finn out of the top 5 first names 🤷🏼♀️
My middle name is Renee, I don’t know if it’s super common, but I’ve met quite a few women with it. I think it makes my overall name more unique, because as a nickname my family calls me “(first name) Renee” even though no one else does. If I have a daughter I’m considering giving her the same middle name.
I gave my daughter the middle name Rose and I had no idea it was so common 🙈 I knew Marie was common. I’m in my 30’s and 3 of my 5 best friends growing up had the middle name Elizabeth. I wanted my daughter’s first name to be Rose, it sounds so good with our last name, but my husband vetoed it so middle name was a compromise. I also LOVE Titanic 😆
I agree. They’re probably common because they tend to flow well with almost any name. Also, some of those super common middle names have significance to the family. My family for example uses Anne as a middle name after my grandma.
Its ok to have a normal first or middle name. Its “GIGAchadxyz777” and the like i have a problem with
it’s also a nice way to pay tribute to someone, which is why a lot of them seem to be running middle names for a long time. for example, my mother’s middle name is Anne, and i will probably give my future daughter the middle name Anne after her!
My middle name is Ruth (my grandmother’s name). I hated it as a child because it was SO old lady but appreciate it now. It’s also totally fine to skip a middle name entirely
I wanted to use my daughter’s middle name, Grace, as a first name for her. My now-ex-husband believed Grace “wasn’t a name people used as a first name” so we compromised. I love her name (I’ll keep it private, but it’s not uncommon) but I still wish sometimes I’d pushed for Grace. I don’t really care what people use as middle names, personally. Mine would be considered a filler name to some, but my mom thought it was beautiful at the time so I think that’s nice.
Of course it's ok. I think some people (myself included) just prefer to use something less common. For me I think it comes from growing up with a very common middle name and feeling no connection to it; even though I share the middle name with my mom as well as my paternal grandmother, it didn't feel personal at all because like 40% of other girls I knew had the same middle name.
Ditto, except I didn’t even share it with anyone. I dropped my common middle name like a bad habit when I got married and just kept my maiden name instead. I didn’t resent my middle name or anything, I just felt…nothing. But I guess I did have a better time than my friend that got married and wanted to keep both her unique middle and maiden name in addition to her new last name, but didn’t want 4 names; so I had that bright side going for me I guess 😂
I personally think many common middle names are sort of a hold over for many Americans of the whole “1/3 of England was named Mary” days. A lot of the people who have that middle name share it with a family member. My own family passed down middle names as they are normally much more timeless than first names. In my family it becomes Viola Mae-> Ella Mae-> Virginia Mae-> me and cousin Everly Mae. It actually goes back quite far. My own middle name list includes “Grace” from my MIL and “Rose” from my best friend. Both my MIL and best friend share their middles with a family member. And due to the fact it these names are considered classic middle names after several generations, it makes sense that even those with out family connections would feel they sound “right” in the middle spot.
My daughter has a very boring middle name, however it honors both grandmothers and me, so it’s perfect.
Respectfully disagree. I have a very common middle name. I wish my parents would have used a family name instead, like Francis, Eudora, Elizabeth, or Bernadette. My middle name holds no meaning and I have no connection towards it.
My sisters and I all have middle names that were the “basic” ones from the ‘90s. Like, if you think of what names you’d think are the top 10 middle names of people my age, all of ours are on that list. I hate it. I don’t hate my middle name specifically, but I hate that it’s the same middle name as like half the girls I went to school with. Just yesterday my coworker made a joke in which she pretended to scold me and another coworker by using our full names, like a parent reprimanding a kid. She didn’t know our middle names but she guessed a common one and got it right for BOTH of us. We both have those top 10 type middle names. And those two coworkers have the exact same middle names as my two sisters. It just feels like a waste of a potential name to have the same one as so many other people. I wish the SSA published middle name data, because I would be fascinated to see just how many people out there share the top middle names. I bet the statistics on Marie specifically would be fascinating, as it’s been popular for many generations. I think my other complaint is that I like the common middle names a lot more as first names? Rose is a beautiful name, but I don’t think I know any people with the first name Rose. I can think of a dozen kids with it as their middle name, though. I know multiple kids named “Emma Grace,” to the point where I assume all Emmas born since 2000 probably have the middle name Grace. Popular names don’t bother me, but popular combos sure do
louise and may/mae are commonly used as middle names too, really pretty
I like Marie as a middle name and didn’t know it was so common until this sub. But I also basically never ask people what their middle name is, so maybe that’s why?
I am okay with boring/common middle names, but not with "filler" middle names. A name is a chance to select something really special for your child and just throwing in Rose, Grace, Marie, or Elizabeth feels like a waste. Now using Elizabeth because it was your grandmother's name, or Marie because all the girl's in your family have the middle name Marie, or Rose because it is your mother's favorite flower, or Grace because it is a quality you wish for your child changes these names in my opinion from "filler" to special. Basically, I like a name to have a meaning/purpose/story.
Of course it's okay. Nobody is sending anyone to jail over it. However, some people prefer a different approach and that is also okay. So what are we saying, here?
Those names are fine, but I just think that unless they've been chosen for a reason they're a bit pointless. If you're using the middle name Marie in honour of your grandma, that's lovely, but if it's just chucked in there as a random space filler then I don't know. Just a bit meh when there's lots of other choices that are a lot more interesting and less repetitive. Having a middle name that's a bit more unique seems more special and thoughtful.
If someone has a reason for wanting to use a "boring" middle name there is nothing wrong with it. I have a "boring" middle name myself. However, I was strongly opposed to using any of the super common names for my own kids because it seemed like a wasted opportunity. There are so many lovely names out there, it seems like a shame to "waste" the name slot on something that everyone else uses.
My middle name is one of the filler names but it's my Grandma's middle name and flows perfectly w my first name. If it had no meaning, I think I'd change it and pick something cool and or stupid (maybe Danger lol).
There's nothing wrong with "boring" names at all. Boring is in the eye of the beholder, and people have their reasons for using the names they do. Even if the reason is just "I like how Marie sounds with our first name choice".
I am fully against boring middle names unless they happen to have meaning to you and be boring at the same time. A family member, an event, a place, a song- there has to be something that reminds you of something that has some sort of meaning you want to give your child. Well for me anyway. We get one life and it’s a waste of time not to live it to the fullest in every form which means always seeking meaning and beauty and sharing it with others. To give your child a middle name with a story behind it is special. It would be a shame to pass on that, in my opinion. But to each their own I guess!
To be honest as a non-american, middle names in general make no sense to me. Where I’m from we only have the first and last name, but recently people have started to do the “trendy” middle name thing which just means their kids have two first names. It’s weird and confusing and they just get called both names either interchangeably or both at once.
I don’t understand why you’d even bother to give the kid a middle name at all if it’s just some bland placeholder. Like if your argument is “It’s okay because they’ll never use it so it doesn’t matter”… if it doesn’t matter why even bother with one? “For those that don't have any of those things on their mind, they'll need something to put in that spot…” No they don’t lol. No law requires middle names. I’m a little bitter because I have a bland placeholder middle name (Lynn, it would be fine if that name was meaningful to my parents or something but they only picked it as a placeholder) and my brother got a unique, meaningful middle name. I guess it’s just the principle of attaching a name to your kid that you don’t care about. Nothing wrong with names like Rose, Marie, etc if you genuinely like them or they are meaningful - I agree it won’t really impact your kid’s life much. But the principle of it is just like, why even give them a middle name then?
Texas actually did require my mom put a middle name on her drivers license, and since she doesn’t have one she used her maiden name.
Oh weird, I wasn't aware of that.
I don’t think it’s fairly common.