Picking the perfect baby name is one of the most important decisions you will make. Your child will carry this name for their whole life, and many parents feel the pressure to choose the perfect first/middle name combination.
I recently heard from a parent who was at a total loss when it came to choosing a middle name for the first name she had chosen, Theo. I’ve thrown together some thoughts on middle names that will hopefully help any new parent choose the perfect name.
History of the Middle Name
The usage of a middle name probably dates back to Italy around the 14th century, when the upper classes began using the names of saints for the children, with the idea that the saints would protect the child throughout its life.
The practice slowly began to spread, first throughout more rural areas of Italy, then to Spain and France, although it wasn’t a common practice in England until the nineteenth century.
Use A Family Name
One of the most popular routes to take with the middle name in modern times is using the spot to honor a family member. In some parts of the world, it is common to use the mother’s maiden name as a middle name. Or perhaps you have another relative you’d like to pay tribute to, be it a grandfather, uncle, brother, or baby’s father himself.
Unfortunately, it may happen that the person you’d like to honor has a name you just can’t behind. Perhaps it would give your child unfortunate initials, maybe it’s also the name of your ex-boyfriend, or maybe your beloved grandfather was named Elmo long before the furry red Muppet came on the scene. Either way, you can still find a way to honor someone special.
Maybe Grandpa has a deep love of the Beatles, or loves astronomy, or has a favourite baseball player. A middle name for Theo like Lennon, Orion, or Aaron could pay tribute to your grandfather without directly using his name.
Indulge Yourself
Of course, sometimes the middle name spot can be used to express a little piece of you and your partner, too. It’s becoming more and more popular for parents to choose names related to the books, movies, music, video games, and hobbies that are important to them.
Fans of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones often find inspiration in the names used in those fictional worlds. The name Lincoln, for example, has exploded in popularity in the last ten years, anecdotally encouraged by parents who want to use the nickname Link like the hero in The Legend of Zelda.
Another popular practice is to indulge yourself by using a guilty pleasure name- a name that you really love, but might not be practical for everyday use. Have you loved Lysander ever since you first cracked open Shakespeare? Or maybe you love Llewellyn, but know it will never be pronounced correctly.
I’ve even known some parents who chose Danger for their son’s middle name, so he could literally say “Danger is my middle name.” The middle name is the perfect spot for this kind of name.
Factors To Consider
Regardless of the approach you choose, there are a few considerations to keep in mind for your baby’s middle name. The most frequently discussed is to make sure the middle name doesn’t allow the first and last initial to spell a rude word, or an acronym (Wyatt Theodore Fraser might not be a good choice!).
So if your last name is Turner, you might want to avoid middle names for Theo like Isaac, or perhaps even Oliver.
But just as important for many people is the overall ‘flow’ of a name. While flow is somewhat subjective, it generally depends somewhat on the number of syllables, and where the accented syllable lies, and how each name starts and ends.
If you go with Theodore, then Oliver doesn’t flow well as middle name because the two names end with a similar sound, and have the same number of syllables.
Generally speaking, mixing up length and letter sounds makes for better flow. A combination like Theo Nathaniel or Theodore Jude mixes up the number of syllables, and contains a variety of vowel and letter sounds.
Conclusion
Above all, try not to stress too much about finding the ‘perfect’ name. Even if you think the flow isn’t as good as it could be, once the name is attached to your perfect little baby, it will sound like the perfect name to you.
