I loved when the kids were in preschool and the school would send home a directory so I could see everyone’s names. In elementary school, one of the best times of the school year is February: the kids come home with lists of names for addressing valentines. When the kids are in middle and high school, I like when the yearbooks come out and I can look at all the names.
I will tell you what tops all of those experiences: high school graduation. Finally, the MIDDLE names!
My eldest child graduated from high school recently, and I am ready to make a report:
1. I was so happy that we’d given him my maiden name as his second middle name. So happy. I loved hearing it read aloud. In fact, it made me wish we’d hyphenated his surname so I could have heard my maiden name more often. There have been years and years of my husband’s family name getting all the reading-aloud at events and all the writing-down in the yearbooks and programs, and that seems very wrong and unfair.
2. Occasionally someone naming a baby will express concern about a name they’re considering, thinking ahead to how it will sound being read aloud at graduation. I had forgotten an aspect of the situation, but Rob reminded me: during rehearsal, the person who will be reading aloud the names asks each graduate how they would like their name read aloud. If you are fretful because of sound or rhythm or length or whatever, the name can be read differently than it is on the birth certificate. (I don’t mean like saying Louise Thoroughgood if the name is Emma Thompson. But if you went with Emma Rose Bella Louisa Parker Thompson, you can have them read it as Emma Rose Thompson.)
2b. But also: it mattered not one single fig. The reader read each full name with big spaces between the parts of the name so there were no issues of running-together; for example, “Robert. Elliot. Whistle. Thistle.” There was vast variety in length and type of name, and everyone was listening too hard for familiar names to worry about other people’s names. One kid had FIVE names, and who cared? No one. Well, Swistle cared, but in a thrilled way: five names! Good stuff!
Even better, the graduation program has all the names printed in it, so I could really pore over it. Heck yes I made a spreadsheet so I could sort them.
There were a lot of the middle names you would expect: Anne, Lynn, Jane, Rose, Elizabeth, Marie. I realized when trying to make the boy half of that list that I don’t think of there being standard middle names for boys. Maybe James? But not the way I think of Grace/Rose/etc. Now, that’s interesting. Why aren’t there? Or why ARE there for girls? For boys there were a bunch of middle-name repeats, but not ones that I’d list off the top of my head as Middle Name Names the way I would with Lynn and Jane.
The most common middle name for girls in this graduating class was Elizabeth: approximately 13% of girls had that middle name. The second most common middle name for girls was Marie: nearly 12% of girls. Third place was Rose with nearly 6%. More with a significant number of repeats: Ann/Anne, Lynn.
The most common middle name for boys in this graduating class was James: approximately 9% of the boys had that middle name. Close on the heels were Joseph and William with nearly 7% each; then Michael and Robert with nearly 6% each. More with a significant number of repeats: David, Edward, John, Matthew, Patrick.
One student had MY name (Kristen) as a middle name. I was pleased and interested. I think of my name as having the wrong rhythm for a middle name—but WHY, when Robert and William and David and Thomas and Joseph all have the same rhythm and all make perfectly terrific middle names? In fact, I notice a large percentage of boys have middle names that are in that DAH-dah rhythm, but girls tend to have one syllable (Jane, Grace, Rose, Lynn, Ann), or emphasis on the second syllable (Nicole, Marie, Noelle, Elizabeth).
There were several middle names that seemed like they could be honor names or names that the parents loved but didn’t quite want to use as first names: Edna, Dorothy, Eugene, Melvin, Saoirse, Vasilis, Meadow.
There were not very many that seemed likely to be the mother’s maiden name, but there were some, and there were several hyphenated surnames. There were approximately as many double middle names as there were hyphenated surnames.
There were three pairs of near-duplicate names. One was just the same first moderately-common first name and then the same first two letters of the last, like if it were Sean Cowan and Sean Cobalt. The other two were the same first, the same middle, and the same first one or two letters of the surname. One of those remaining two pairings had a Top Ten name but then a less common middle name, like if it were Ashley Sage Mooney and Ashley Sage McNeil. The other was a first name in the 200s followed by a more familiar middle name, more like Grant Charles Bolton and Grant Charles Boyd.
The most popular girl name in 1999 (the year Rob was born, so it’s the year I used for this graduating class) was Emily, used for 1.36% of baby girls nationwide; it was used for less than .5% of this particular graduating class. The name Catherine, which was #98 in 1999 and used for .17% of baby girls nationwide, was used three times as often as Emily in this graduating class.
The most popular boy name in 1999 was Jacob; it was used for 1.73% of baby boys nationwide, and for 2% of this particular graduating class. The name Kyle was #28 in 1999 and used for .68% of baby boys nationwide; it was also used for 2% of this graduating class.
What mostly surprised me was how few repeats there were, even of Top Ten names you might have expected to have repeats of. Hannah was the #2 most common name in 1999, but there aren’t any in this class. Only one Samantha, only one Ashley, only one Jessica, only one Elizabeth, only one Michael, only one Matthew. Most students were the only one with their name in their entire graduating class—and we are not in a very name-adventurous area of the country.
Reading names in the program is always my favorite part of any graduation ceremony.
The middle name thing really intrigues me. Generally speaking, there is more variation in first names given to girls, but less variation in first names given to boys. Maybe parents react to this subconsciously by giving their daughters “normal/traditional” middle names? Since boys are more likely to get “normal/traditional” first names, parents tend to lean towards more variety in the middle spot?
Or is it a holdover of more patriarchal traditions where a girl’s middle name didn’t really matter because she was less likely to use it to distinguish herself for business purposes? I could see a need for John Andrew Smith to differentiate himself from John Calvin Smith for business purposes. So back when women weren’t likely to have professional lives, nobody cared how many Jane Elizabeth Smiths there were because they were all going to referred to by their husband’s name anyway? Maybe it just didn’t matter what their middles were since they were expected to grow up, get married, and be called Mrs. John C. Smith and Mrs. John A. Smith? There is also the (mostly Southern) tradition in the U.S. of girls dropping their middle name and replacing it with father’s surname when they got married. So I suppose if that was the expectation, a filler throw-away middle name would make more sense.
IDK, but I do find it intriguing. A wider sampling of middle name trends would be an interesting research project.
I was thinking the same thing. Most of the people I know, whether they care about names a lot or not very much, are way more willing to be adventurous with girls’ first names (“I’d like to stay in the top 100 for a girl, but the top 20 for a boy”; or, “I’d like to stay OUT OF the top 100 for a boy, and out of the top 1,000 for a girl”). Someone who would have named a daughter Melisandre, but instead has a son and names him James, is probably itching to express that Melisandre-style creativity SOMEWHERE…so she makes James’s middle name Napoleon instead of Nicholas. Whereas if she’d had a girl instead, her middle-name criteria might have been based on wanting to make sure little Melisandre had a more traditional middle name for balance (or for a fallback, should she want to blend in someday). So, James Napoleon/Melisandre Rose. That theory makes sense to me!
I will note also that my husband is deeply concerned about the possibility of schoolyard teasing for a boy, and won’t consider any name that seems like it would set him up for that, but apparently has no such worry about a girl. Methinks there are other husbands talking their wives out of more adventurous first-name choices for similar reasons, and that the middle spot is where compromise happens.
We hyphenated our kids’ last names. I understand all the problems people point out with length, confusion, and what-to-do-when-they-get-married, but I have to say I love writing and hearing both my husband’s and my last names regularly. I also like that it gives each kid three names that are actually used regularly (not just for forms and graduations) instead of just two: a bonus name! It helps that our two last names are a nice set, each with 6 letters, two DAH-dah syllables, one somewhat common and one more unusual, and both with an M sound but not rhyming.
Swistle, thanks for the chance to think about naming patterns in general and reflect on my satisfaction with this choice.
There were three Lauren Elizabeths and two Lauren Elizabeth B.s in my eighth grade class in the early 00s. I remember being so intrigued by that, as I’m fairly certain I am the only one in the world with my particular first name-middle name pairing (and certainly the only one with my first/last).
When I graduated, the readers of my name still butchered it after much practice. I think it’s just really difficult for some languages/dialects to pronounce words/names from other languages/dialects. (My name is distinctly Hebrew and Swiss-German, the readers were rural deep Southerns from the US). It is what it is. The effort is what counts for me.
I think of Lee as a default middle for boys…so its interesting that it doesn’t even make the list. And I’d expect Paul to be more common? Especially in Catholic families?
It seems to me like women especially tend to treat the middle name as a way to have a tradition of passing down a family name (although maybe this is outside the South, if the Southern assumption is that the middle name will get dropped), with grandmothers, mothers, and daughters all having the same middle name. It makes sense that this would be the easiest to maintain with somewhat classic names that sound good with almost any first name.
Interesting point about Paul. In my opinion, it falls firmly into “Dad (or older) Name” right now, and I imagine that’s why there are so few baby/adolescent Pauls these day.
Thanks for the name analysis! I love these patterns. My province came out with a list of all the names used and their frequency since 1980 in a sweet spreadsheet. I love poring over the data.
I worked at a high school (and planned graduation) for years so this is a favorite event for me. As an administrator I had database access to full names and loved seeing all the combinations/spellings. Our students also got to choose how they want their name printed on the diploma as well as read aloud. So they can elect to have Jane Smith, Jane Catherine Smith, Jane C. Smith, etc. It gave me a challenging perspective naming my first but I would say the recent graduate name trends are similar to your son’s class.
For additional context, what was the size of this graduating clsss?
Approximately 200.
I think the common list of girl middles (Anne,
Marie, Lynn, Jane, Rose, Grace, Leigh) is because many girls first names are 3 syllables or more and people like a short middle to balance the sound. Boys names are less likely to be three syllables and so less desire for a short middle, so more options. In the top 10 only 1 boys name is 3 syllables but 5/10 girls names are 3 or more syllables.
Add tradition (middle names after someone) and you get a lot of the same middle names: most one syllable.
This is just my theory.
My theory on Elizabeth as a middle name for this age cohort is that it might be the first name of moms and aunts of this age group? Because, for example, I’m an Elizabeth, and my sister’s husband’s sister is an Elizabeth, so my 24 YO niece is E11a Elizabeth Hyphenated-LastName.
I’m surprised there aren’t more Jennifers in the middle name spot given its popularity for decades.
Re: no repeats–I am wondering whether that’s the result of one of two things.
One, 1999 was the year I got my first cell phone, and marked the end of the era in which I didn’t spend at least some of every single day online. It seems to me that the kids in Rob’s graduating class were born to the first generation of parents that at least MIGHT have had the needed resources available to intelligently predict and avoid duplicates. But maybe that’s giving the early internet too much credit!
Second, I’m learning through experience that young parents of similar backgrounds who flock together also have similar tastes as each other, but not necessarily as the rest of the country or even the immediately surrounding area. My long-treasured girl name has never been in the top 1,000, and I’ve never mentioned it to anyone and am not even totally sure how it came to me or why it appeals so much–but I found out last week (to my great dismay!) that one of my best friends, whom I’ve known since we were little kids, also has it on her short list (and also has no idea why she likes it). But by all rights, it would SEEM far likelier that if we were to butt heads over a name, it would be Sophia or Olivia or Emma (all in stark contrast with our actual preferred styles).
It seems possible to me that those parents who knowingly plan to use popular names probably make a good-faith effort to check for others in their immediate circles, while those who don’t–like me–never even think to do this, or go out of their way not to so as to avoid accidentally inspiring duplicators!
And if you’re wondering how we figured this out, given what I said about going out of my way not to check–it’s because SHE mentioned it to ME, and then I had to follow Swistle’s recommendation about going on record IMMEDIATELY as also being an admirer of the name. :)
We had three Jennifer Browns, two Jessica Joneses, and two Jennifer Johnsons in my graduating class twenty years ago.
One guy I sat next to leaned over and snickered, “Why don’t they just announce each name once? It’d save us a lot of time, and who cares about names like that anyway?”
Ouch.
I doubt any of those girls would have wanted to hear that. I know all of them felt like just a number already. (I know one of them chose names for all her kids outside the Top 1000… makes me wonder about the rest of them!)
One of those girls told me her name made graduating rather anti-climactic. Can you imagine?!
Anyway, LOVE reading through graduation rosters! Great post, Swistle.
I mostly hear people picking middle names that flow with the whole name, so even girls with 2 syllable names seem to get a lot of the same 1 syllable or emphasis on the 2nd syllable middle names. Maybe parents are less concerned about their sons having a pretty sounding name? But I do think of Lee as being the most common “default” boys middle name.
I love knowing people’s middle names. There’s so often a great story behind a middle name. Am I the only one who would gladly stay at a graduation longer if after each name they gave a brief story of how the child was given this name? I’d stay all day for that!!!
Oh, I would be staying all day right next to you. I’d pack a picnic basket.
I think that most middle names still tend to be honor names. So you will find many names that were popular a generation or two ago. My middle name was my grandmother’s first name and I share it with an aunt and a cousin. It’s also very similar to a great aunts name. My brother’s middle names are family last names (the older of the two started with my great-grandmother and has been carried down through the generations for at least one boy, the younger has mom’s maiden name as his middle) I also know a lot of kids who were given either their parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles first name as a middle or have the same middle as a parent or aunt/uncle.
I loved hearing the names at graduation, also. I’m just sad that not all chose to give a middle name. The survey of my son’s school revealed that Lee was the most popular middle name. One reason might be that it was given to both males and females. After that, Rose and Elizabeth tied. Other repeating middle names were John and Singh.
This is probably not the right post for this, but I want to advocate for the name “Joyce” as an excellent middle name…similar to Jane in its old-fashioned, wholesome sound, but with a little twist! There should be more Something Joyce Somethings out there!
This thought is brought to you by somebody from a family with a lot of Joyces. ;p
Every year, I attend college graduation, and every year I think of sending you the program to look at! The names are the best part of the whole pomp and circumstance. And as department chair, I get to read names of graduates from our department, with that same effort to pronounce them correctly and the same triumphant emphasis. So much fun.
In my life, common boy middle names are James, William, John, Robert, David. However, a lot of people I know have honour names for middles so these are just commonly occurring family tree first and middle names!
I also think of Alexander, Michael, Matthew, and Daniel as common male middles….but again, common male firsts too!
I am a little late on reading this post but I found it so interesting because after attending my brother’s high school graduation in June it made me reconsider the middle name we were considered for our baby. I am due in a few weeks and we were seriously leaning towards the middle name Fox but after hearing all of the full names at the graduation it made me realize that it might be too casual of a name for my taste. I just find it interesting how I never really considered the casualness of the name until hearing other names read aloud at an important life event.
I had to dig this post out of the archives to comment that I have been brewing on this post (and procrastinating) for a year, and I FINALLY went into the Registry today to officially add my maiden name as a second middle for my daughter! While it does seem like little crumbs (I think mentioned elsewhere it your blog), I am so pleased that it is SOMETHING, and I am delighted already at the thought of hearing it said aloud (and delighted to see it in print, too!)
Oh, this is VERY PLEASING!