Guest Blogger: Raya

Welcome Raya as our guest blogger today! Sorry it is getting posted so late, we've been busy.



I wasn't going to talk about my names, but I had to slightly to explain my
thinking. I hope it doesn't seem like I am repeating my last post.

Raya

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One Middle Name or Two? Which is Right?



Your middle name is Marie. Your mother’s middle name is Marie. Your
grandmother’s middle name is Marie. It is expected of you to use the middle
name Marie for your first-born daughter. Problem? You don’t like the name
Marie. You find it common or “filler.” Solution: two middle names.

For many years, foreign royals, such as the British royal family have been
using two and three middle names. It is such that Princess Margaret having
only one middle name is very uncommon. Her name is Margaret Rose. However,
her sister, Queen Elizabeth II has two middle names. Her full name is
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. Every member of the royal family after Queen
Elizabeth and Princess Margaret has two or three middle names. It has
become common place for royals.

It is not uncommon anymore for “regular” people to have two middles names.
Some have them because of confirmation names and some are given two middle
names at birth. Some also, have two first names and one middle name, but
that is not what this post is about. It is about whether having one or two
middle names is right or wrong.

Middles names are often used to honor someone, but as I said before, what
if you do not like the name you are expected to use. My middle name is
Lorene. I can honestly tell you that I hate my middle name. I love what it
represents, but I hate the name. The name I was planning on using for my
first daughter was Gina Lorene, but I didn’t like the rhyming quality that
it had so I stuck Alessandra in. It became Gina Alessandra Lorene. However,
the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the name was just too
long. So I dropped Alessandra, changed Gina to Giuliana (Julianna was a
great love of mine that I thought I could never use) with the nickname
option of Gina and kept Lorene. Now, my top name is Giuliana “Gina” Lorene
and I couldn’t be happier.

But during this process, I figured out something. There is no wrong way or
right way when it comes to names. It is just what you love. Two middles are
great for honoring someone and still getting to use a combo that you love.
You won’t damage your child for life by giving them two middles, although
you do want to make sure the name has great flow. If your child doesn’t
like it, they can always drop it later in life. Same applies for one
middle. I am sure there are plenty of people who were given an embarrassing
middle name that opted to have no middle name at all.

In conclusion, two middles or one middle, it doesn’t matter. The only thing
that matters is that you give your child a name you love because a great
name is the best thing you can ever give them. I thank my mom every day for
not naming me Tiffany.

My apologies to Tiffanies of the world.