Why Do We Have Middle Names?

From Elite Medieval Custom to Widespread Practice Middle names emerged in the 13th century among Italian elites in cities like Florence, Perugia, Venice, and Rome, with Gascon nobility using two given names as early as the 11th–12th centuries. By the 1400s, saint-derived second names spread in Italy to invoke protection, and the custom gradually took root across Europe. In the 18th century it crossed class lines, and by the 19th it was standard in Europe and the United States. Uses diversified: in French, English, and Italian contexts they ornamented identities, distinguished people with common names, or discreetly honored relatives.

Patronymics, Naming Orders, and the Modern Middle Initial Elsewhere, second names often extend lineage: Russian names place a patronymic between given name and surname, formed -ovich/-evich for men and -ovna/-evna for women, while similar patronymic traditions appeared in North Africa under Roman rule through blends of Roman and Punic naming after 146 BCE. In languages where the family name comes first, like Korean and Chinese, the second personal name follows the surname, so the idea of a distinct “middle name” doesn’t apply. Spanish traditions stack names to reflect maternal lines or wider ancestry, exemplified by Pablo Picasso’s twenty-word full name despite his two-word signature. In the United States, middle initials gained traction in the 20th century but declined by the early 2000s; seven presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Gerald R. Ford used them, and George W. Bush maintained his to avoid confusion with his father. Middle initials can boost perceived status and intellect in fields like medicine, academia, and law, leaving the middle name a sometimes superfluous, sometimes inherited, always eye-catching “sixth toe” of identity.