When did the use of a middle name become common?

Question:In the United States and the United Kingdom, some but not all members of the middle class started adding middle names to their children's birth names beginning in the the early part of the 19th century, although some people, mostly from the upper classes, had middle names beginning in the mid 1700s, for example, the names Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) and Clement Clark Moore (1779-1863, of a "The Night Before Christmas") come to mind. John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) is the first American President to have a middle name. British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898) had a middle name as well. By the early part of the 20th century, the practice of giving children middle names had spread to all social classes. Of course, in many Roman Catholic countries, choosing a saint's name at Confirmation, and thereafter that name being his or her middle name, has long been common. During the Victorian era, parents often gave girl babies somewhat fanciful or ostentatious middle or multiple names.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: In the United States and the United Kingdom, some but not all members of the middle class started adding middle names to their children's birth names beginning in the the early part of the 19th century, although some people, mostly from the upper classes, had middle names beginning in the mid 1700s, for example, the names Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) and Clement Clark Moore (1779-1863, of a "The Night Before Christmas") come to mind. John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) is the first American President to have a middle name. British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898) had a middle name as well. By the early part of the 20th century, the practice of giving children middle names had spread to all social classes. Of course, in many Roman Catholic countries, choosing a saint's name at Confirmation, and thereafter that name being his or her middle name, has long been common. During the Victorian era, parents often gave girl babies somewhat fanciful or ostentatious middle or multiple names.

Few Americans were giving their children middle names in the 17th century until the German immigrants introduced this naming custom to America. They were in the habit of giving their children two given names at baptism. The first given name was a spiritual name, often a favorite saint's name, and the second one, which would later be known as the middle name, was the secular name. The secular name, or "call name" was the name by which the child was known and the name used in legal records. It was not uncommon for the spiritual name to be the same for all the children of the same sex within the family.

While the Germans would bring this custom to America, it was not until the early 19th century that the custom caught on with others. By the 1840s, it had grown into a popular practice. According to a study of college records, in 1840 about 92 percent of the students at Princeton had middle names. This custom would continue to grow and by World War I it was assumed that everyone in America had a middle name.

wha?

when u were born duhh!!!!

It depends on whether you want to consider the baptismal or confirmation name given to all children in Europe pre-Reformation as their "middle name". The custom was that the child was given their "common" name for everyday use, but when the baby was baptized (usually the same day they were born in many countries), the godparents took the baby to church (mom obviously left to sleep) and they gave the baby their baptismal name. That name was recorded in front of the given name and in all records kept for many centuries the two names were kept together in all official documents. That's why there were so many Juan Carlos and Gian Carlo's in history.

Then came the Reformation and the countries most affected by Calvinism moved away from infant baptism and patron saints. So in those countries, mainly from the Netherlands to Germany, Switzerland and Denmark, the single name was common for a few generations. But then it caused confusion because they were still patrynomic societies. Without all three names to distinguish Jan Jansen from all other Jan Jansens, they were struggling. So the old system of the patron saint name returned, but without the patron saint. They took the tradition away from the naming in order to move things forward.

In other countries, like France, Spain, Portugal and Italy, the system of giving a child both a patron saint's name and a confirmation name continued. That's why there are so many names in the records of those countries. It's very common to find Marie-Helene Marguerite in French and Canadian records. Marie was the patron saint whose name was given at baptism. Helene was the given name for common use. Marguerite was the confirmation name taken in early puberty.

So the answer to your question is "it depends". It depends mostly on the country and the religious beliefs of the people involved. When you get into Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the tradition gets even more complicated. There can be 10 "middle names" given to a person...and they tell the paternity of boys for multiple generations and the maternity of a girl for just as long. Before there were surnames, there were parents' names.

All the answers above are excellent, paricularly Evie's and Genevieve's Mom. There are many derivatives of middle names. Some people have more than 2 given names. I had an uncle born in 1900 who stated his name was Henry Lee Franklin Lewis Peter Ault. He was my grandparents first born and they wanted to name him for both grandparents, his father and uncle. However to make things less complicated he went by Henry Lee Ault.