Choosing the Perfect Middle Name

There are so many resources out there on how to choose the perfect baby name that we often forget about the baby’s middle name. A baby’s middle name can be just as fun to choose as, if not more fun to choose than, the first name. Use these tips to choose the perfect middle name for your baby.

• Family names make good middle names if you would like to honor a family member or relative but do not like the person’s name as a first name, especially if it is old-fashioned or in another language. Our son's middle name is his great-grandfather's name (and my husband's middle name). The same idea applies to the names of friends and other important people in your life.
• Your maiden name could be a middle name if you want to honor your family name without hyphenating it with your new last name. This idea also works for Latino families who live in the U.S.: my nieces and nephews all have two names as first names and “Huerta” (my sister-in-law’s maiden name) as their middle name.
• If you like a certain letter but cannot agree on a middle name or you want to honor two people whose names have the same initial letter, simply use the letter. For example, my half-brother’s middle name is just the letter L because his parents couldn’t agree on what it stood for.
• Quirky names are good for middle names because your baby can be unique without having to deal with the problems of having a weird—or weirdly spelled—first name, and because middle names are minimally used. For example, one friend of a friend gave his baby boy the middle name “Pez” because he obsessively collects Pez dispensers.
• If there is no special name you already have in mind, then pick a few other names that you like. Try them out with the chosen first name to see which one goes best. Listen for a nice flow.
• If your baby has two first names, such as Mary Ann, then consider not adding a middle name. Keep things simple for your baby.
• Remember to consider what the baby's initials would be.