WEBVTT - Where Did Middle Names Come From?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vogelbaumb Here few things perplexed expectant parents more than

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<v Speaker 1>picking just the right name for their child. And the

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<v Speaker 1>middle name is no exception. It must have both gravitas

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<v Speaker 1>and joyed to view and set the tone for a

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<v Speaker 1>lifetime of repetition on official forms. But what's in a

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<v Speaker 1>middle name anyway? In ancient Rome, people often had five names.

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<v Speaker 1>The first three were like today's modern surname, middle name,

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<v Speaker 1>and last name. The last two names usually revealed the

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<v Speaker 1>person's place or clan of origin. The modern tradition of

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<v Speaker 1>inserting a middle name or two into a child's moniker

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<v Speaker 1>most likely began in the Middle Ages, when parents gave

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<v Speaker 1>babies a personalized first name and a saints name for

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<v Speaker 1>middle name, followed by a surname. By the mid eighteen hundreds,

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<v Speaker 1>this European habit had entered the United States, brought along

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<v Speaker 1>by immigrants, and began to take on new significance. Middle

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<v Speaker 1>names inspired by saints were sometimes replaced by religious middle names,

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<v Speaker 1>such as a maternal maiden name. By the time the

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<v Speaker 1>Civil War began in eighteen sixty one, middle names were

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<v Speaker 1>given purely at the parents discretion. Any name of their

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<v Speaker 1>liking was fair game, and were often aspirational in nature,

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<v Speaker 1>with two or three middle names given. After all, a

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<v Speaker 1>hypothetical name of Peter Aurelius Oliver Smith carries a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit more weight than plain old Pete Smith, doesn't it.

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<v Speaker 1>The idea of a middle name took hold in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States, and by the start of World War Two

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen fourteen, official enlistment forms became the first government

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<v Speaker 1>documents to request applicants middle names. Middle names were so

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<v Speaker 1>much the norm that when computers became routinely used for

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<v Speaker 1>US citizenship documents, they were programmed to recognize three names,

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<v Speaker 1>not two or four, only three. If a middle name

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't entered, the program would automatically insert an m I,

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<v Speaker 1>which was a military abbreviation for no middle initial. But

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<v Speaker 1>for those without a middle name, let alone an initial

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<v Speaker 1>outside of official forms, invention can be the key to success.

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<v Speaker 1>For Joanne Kathleen Rawling better known as j. K. Rowling,

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<v Speaker 1>author of the Harry Potter series, the middle name Kathleen

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<v Speaker 1>is a fictional effect, appearing as if by magic. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode was written by Laurie L. Dove and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tristan McNeil. For more on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>historical topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot

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<v Speaker 1>com