Christian name or Mr/Mrs/Miss?

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In America, the term “forename” is never used.

What do they call the “middle name” in the UK?

Middle name.

I feel sorry for my granddad who doesn't have one.

I mean his first name is perfectly good and his nickname which derives from the first name is really nice but if he didn't like his name he wouldn't be able to change it except to something his parents never named him.

I've known quite a few people who went by their middle name because they didn't like their first name.

At one point I was the equivalent (this wasn't my name) of a Betty Sue, i.e. I used both my first name and middle name as my name. That was what my dad intended me to be called but everyone else just calls me my first name.

Many people seemed to have adopted their middle names as their first name in the 19th century. At least two US Presidents did this.

Ulysses S. Grant was originally named Hiram Ulysses

Grover Cleveland was born Stephen Grover.

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 05 Jan 2019, 3:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I have two Christian names, and should rightfully be called both. The second isn't intended as a 'middle name' but most people treat it that way.

It always amuses me a little when foreigners, often Americans, misuse the 'Sir' handle for Knights of the Realm in the UK. It's not uncommon to hear someone like Sir Richard Branson referred to as 'Sir Branson'.

The correct form is “Sir Richard.”

Yep!

I know, in Catholicism, and perhaps in other branches of Christianity, people are given at least two extra names upon baptism.

All British Royals have at least four names.

My brother has four names.

I was baptized as a Roman Catholic, and only have one first name, as do my brothers. Maybe that's a reference to a practice that's died out, or is confined to certain parts of the world?

I've read of a tradition in Catholicism where parents were expected to give their offspring the names of Saints, but again that was probably only true of an earlier period and was perhaps confined to the more conservative wings of the faith. I recall that at the RC Primary School I attended, there were people in my year group with names like Eric, Roland, Roderick, Shirley, Jane and Beverley, none of which are names of Saints, as far as I know.

...and If I may be permitted a bit of a Saturday Night Rant, I really loathe the modern tendency in the UK to use surnames as first names. Why on earth do parents want to call their offspring Todd, Bradley, Spencer, Madison, etc..?

We are Anglican. Three of my brother's four names are names of saints, but they are also names of ancestors. I'd be curious to know if my parents named him more for saints or for the namesake relatives.

...I lost a draft . But anyway, regarding Fireblossom and Kraftiekortie's comments here on Page 4 (I have not read the whole thing,)...and also isabella's/Skilpadde's...Referring to a first name as a "" Christian name " appears to me as one of those somewhat older-fashioned English usages that might have been used more in America in the past, but has sort of fallen out of use here (Quite apart from how it may be used now in Britain)- As with a lot of pre-1960s American-written and -set books by American authors, perhaps a touch more " polite " or " nice/genteel " ones, that use these slightly more " English "-y now, it seems to me, phrases.
In the " South " (Southeast) American states there's always been a bit more of a " call him/her Mr./Miss-Mrs. " tradition - My parents were from the South (Texas) and I say I'm " one generation removed from being considered Southern " and I use a couple of Southern-ish terms - Most notably " y'all " " which, I've seen it said,* is one case where English's lack of addressing a collective phrases was rectified in one particular corner of the English-speaking world!
It's a contraction of " you all ", after all ...(I guess it may be seen as more " black " , used outside the South, anyway - I'm white - too.)
Another Southern -~ Or Texan? ~ thing is the " two short names hammocked together as a name " name - Billy Bob (Thornton - from Arkansas, not Texas ), or Peggy Sue. My mother had a rather peculiar double name of that sort, she hated it, and as a married woman, especially, dropped it, only her mother called her by both - but i get some money from a trust/whatever she set up, and the checks give her name as her full married name plus that first of the two names, but only as an initial - " Initial Full Full Full " .
*-I'm a dumb f**k as far as having a " proper " education/degree-status goes , so.........

My three names are all family names. I am a first-born male.
Madonna ~ the singer ~ Madge ~ was born Madonna Louise Ciccone, Veronica was her Catolic confirmation name.






















="DeepHour"]

I was baptized as a Roman Catholic, and only have one first name, as do my brothers. Maybe that's a reference to a practice that's died out, or is confined to certain parts of the world?

I've read of a tradition in Catholicism where parents were expected to give their offspring the names of Saints, but again that was probably only true of an earlier period and was perhaps confined to the more conservative wings of the faith. I recall that at the RC Primary School I attended, there were people in my year group with names like Eric, Roland, Roderick, Shirley, Jane and Beverley, none of which are names of Saints, as far as I know.[/quote]

I would purport that those names were names of past relatives.

In Judaism, a baby cannot be named after a living relative, including the father (If he is alive). There are no “juniors,” at least in Askenazi Judaism.

I stand corrected as far as Catholicism is concerned.

Kraftiekortie, I've always been curious to ask, do many (or any) Jewish people today still claim to be descended from a particular one of the Twelve Tribes of Biblical Israel?