Choosing a middle name

While there is no particular reason for you to give your baby a middle name, for many it has now become a social norm. There are many benefits to incorporating one or more middle names into your child's title, not least because it means that you don't have to narrow your choice of favourite names down to just one!

Choosing middle names for your baby allows you to be more creative than you perhaps could be with a single name as it gives you the opportunity to pair a more flamboyant first name with a 'safer' middle name or vice versa. This not only helps to create a more balanced name for your child, but also means that you are giving them the option to use either as their main name when they grow up. Its generally common place to give boys more traditional first names paired with more elaborate middle names, while for girls this tends to be the other way around.

There aren't any real restrictions as to how many middle names your baby can have (although its generally limited to four), and this can be beneficial in itself. Middle names can provide the perfect hiding place for any family name that you and your partner are under pressure to include but that you don't particularly like. Middle names also provide you with the opportunity to incorporate any special names that you would like to include in your baby's title but don't want to use as a first name.

If you plan to name your son or daughter after a family member, or with a name that begins with the same initial as that of another family member, unique middle names help to bring individuality to the name and also causes less confusion in terms of forms and post.

When choosing middle names for your new baby, try to avoid faddy or really common names and instead go for something that sounds good, compliments both the first and surname you have in mind and rolls off the tongue easily (very important for those 'i'm using your full name because you're in trouble' moments when your baby grows into a teenager). Additionally, you should always check that the initials of your chosen name combination don't spell anything unfortunate (doing this will help ensure your child avoids peer ridicule!). Generally, longer middle names compliment shorter first names and vice versa, however you will only be able to get a real feel for the flow of a name when you try it in combination with your surname.