Do middle names matter?

I guess it had never occured to me not to give my kids middle names. I think if it's a tradition then it's fine. Then at least there's a reason. After all, how many times do you go by all three names? People don't go around calling me Hadley Grace. I don't call my son Brooks Justin unless he's in trouble... in which case it sounds more threatening...

i dont think middle names matter. they are not used so there is no point in them. but i would want my kids to have one just so they dont do with out. and its kind of fun to ask what ppls middle names are. i do not like two middle names. i think that sounds tacky. especially since one is not necessary. two is too much. i would however either give all kids middle names or all kids no middle name. i dont like when one kid has one and another one doesnt. then it doeesnt match. in my opinion.

It totally depends on your culture and family traditions, I'm Half Spanish so my middle name is actually my father's surname and my mother's surname is my surname.

I'm also Half Danish and it is the same there as in Denmark the middle name refers to names that are originally surnames, but not part of the last name of the name bearer. A middle name could be e.g. one's mother's maiden name or the last name of another recent ancestor .

I've never really understood the fuss people in english speaking countries make over middle names, if it is that important to your husband then go for it to avoid unneccesary conflict, but on the otherhand don't let your culture/family traditions fall victim to his culture/ family traditions, I hope this helped.

I don't think you have to have a middle name. Our 3 kids all have 2 middle names. My sibs and I all have 2 as well. Most everyone I know has one MN. I do have a friend that doesn't though and she said its kind of a hassle. Up to you.

I think these days it's definitely weird not to have one. It's not used much, really, but it does help distinguish individuals with the same name, and it gives your child something of a back-up name, if for some reason the really don't want to go by their first name, a lot of people will go by their middle one as well. 

I'm not a fan of my middle name, but I'm glad I have one, it's so rare for people not to that it's a little weird when they don't (like how someone else mentioned, a girl I went to school with didn't have one and she would get really annoyed when people would ask her why, because she was the only one without one.)

I didn't think about this until now, but whenever this subject comes up, someone usually brings up the fact that it's just safer these days to have a MN, too.  Just think about it--these days, it's safer to be even Grace Elizabeth Smith than just Grace Smith--from what I understand, you can protect your identity so much better with having a MN.  I don't really understand the logistics of it completely, but that would be one argument in favor.  That being said, it could also be a negative, if you're the only Anastasia Fairuza Popinolous in the world, it's a lot easier to track you down and do you harm if you're posting information about you online, kwim?

Eh, all my children so far have 2 middle names but that's only because they are after family.. We've pretty much ran out of people we'd like to honour so once we do our kids will probably be middle name-less.. I don't think they are important unless honouring someone close to you. 

Personally, I like having a middle name. But it really makes no difference if a person doesn't have one. I think you and your partner should just work it out. 

 I think it's a good idea, partly because their middle name/middle initial can help differentiate them from other people with the same first and last name (especially if those are at all common).

Meh, I would never consider not giving my kids middle names. I actually do have a couple of friends who don't have middle names, however. The one doesn't really care much but the other used to get reeeeally defensive whenever someone would be like "you don't have a middle name? Why?"

I personally like my middle name, and I just think middle names act to further identify an individual. I don't think it'd be "weird" if you didn't give your kids middle names though