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05 March 2015

No Middle Name

In some locations and some time periods, it was not common to use middle names. Do not assume that your ancestor had a middle name. It is possible that he or she did not.

7 comments:

  1. My father born in 1940 did not have a middle name. His whole life he had to argue with people who were convinced he should have had a middle name.

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  2. In the 1960's, I was asked by a relative why my children had 3 names. She was from Iowa and I live in Maryland. I certainly thought that it was a strange question.

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  3. I tell folks I have no middle name. I have a 2-word first name & those 2 words are separated by a space.

    No computer programmer is going to tell me when a middle initial is enough. And what of those individuals who have a one-letter middle name?

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  4. My paternal grandfather was born in 1889 and was not given a middle name. When social security was created he was required to create a middle initial in order to enroll, or so goes the family story.

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  5. And there was the guy who joined the Military as
    R.(only) B. (only) Jones and became know as Ronly Bonly Jones

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    Replies
    1. My uncle had only the initial C for a middle name and was known in the military as Ralph C (only). My father called him Conly for years.

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