Shhhhh. I have a confession to make. I don’t tell many people because I’ve always found it really embarrassing. But it’s you guys – so well – it’s time to own up.
My middle name is EDITH.
There I said it. When I was a kid, I used to lie all the time and say it was Elizabeth. I even had proof. The birthday club certificate from the hospital where I was born said Elizabeth and to me – that trumped my birth certificate. I also lied about needing glasses and flubbed my eye test on purpose…the fact that I’m 43 and need bifocals is likely totally unrelated – right????
Anyway – I always hated the name. My grandma always reminded me that I was named after my aunt – the one who never got married – and sewed everyone’s wedding dresses. Thanks Moo Moo.
I think I know why my mom picked it. It’s the perfect yelling name. SARA EDITH…get in the house right now. SARA EDITH put that beer down. Actually I’m SURE that’s why she picked it.
I know this because when I was thinking of Will’s middle name I tested it out. Who wants to be yelling across a playground – Theodore Livingstone get off monkeybars? Too freaking long. (We had a dog once that we named Finnegan and we had to change it – too long to yell…you lose your voice). You get the idea. So he is Sutton. Try it out – go on. WILL SUTTON take your finger out of your nose!!! It’s perfect.
It’s also the place where my mom is buried in the Eastern Townships of Quebec and it’s beautiful. (Edith is buried there as well – not next to a husband). So Will Sutton he is.
What’s the scoop with your middle name? Am I the only one who lied?
**Truth be told, like my curly hair, I’ve sort of grown to love it. I just needed to get used to it I guess and reach an age where the All in the Family jokes stopped**.
This Huffington Post article on celeb middle names is what made me think of this….there’s some doozies.
I don’t know which is worse..Edith or Audrey!!!???
I love my Charlotte’s name….Charlotte Elsa after her two grandmothers….and she was always a Charlotte so good thing she was a girl!!!
I have a lovely middle name.. Christine but my sister got the doozy… Francis… yup now you know… Catherine Francis
I am paula ann. Always wondered why I had the same middle name as my sister. Found out in my teens – probably when I was being an asshole – that I was named after my aunt the nun. Her religious name (the fake name assigned to her when her identity was stolen when she entered the order) was sister paula ann. It’s so me! Ha!
Hi sara!
Mine is Lou. I was always mortified when people found this out – mainly because kids always called me Sherry Bathroom when they found out. lol. I still think my middle name stinks – I guess its a tag along from my skid heritage:)
My kids: William John and Stella Leona. Nothing close to potty talk so hopefully they will be cool with their middle names:)
My middle name is Kajuju (I’m Kenyan). It was given to me by my aunt (dad’s oldest sister). It means “one who has abundance.” My son is Nathan Muriuki and my daughter is Hannah Kathure. My son’s name means “risen one.” We were going through infertility testing in preparation for clomid treatments first when we conceived him. The symptoms I was having pointed to an ectopic pregnancy, so I had a bunch of ultrasounds my first trimester. My clumsy self fell twice in one week on the Edmonton snow and ice, ending up in the hospital for the non-stress(?) test. At birth, he went into distress and we almost lost him, and he was delivered by an emergency c-section. So my hubby and I named him that based on the odds he (and we) defied to safely get here. My daughter was named after the biblical character Hannah. Her middle name was given to her because we chose to have another baby (we’d initially decided we were done after one). As a couple, we decided to honour both our heritage (Canadian and Kenyan) in naming our children by giving them an “English name” and a Kenyan middle name.
I want my name to be Genevieve Nathalie….you don’t have that short yelling factor…but it’s so beautiful!
I’m SEL…salt…RAG and BAG is hilarious!
My name is Jessie Lee, not Jessica. kinda sounds like my parents wanted a boy. My daughter’s name is Genevieve Nathalie, first name from my grandmother who passed away while I was pregnant, and Nathalie is female version of her fathers name which is Nathaniel.
My middle name is Hellen which is a family name going back generations, but that never made me like it (and yes it is spelled with two ‘L’s which was a spelling error, also going back generations). My kids are Wesley Douglas (named for my husband’s father figure as his dad died when he was 2), Amelia Hellen (Hey I didn’t want to be the one to break the tradition, lol), Donovan John (for my dad), and Bethany Rose (short for Rosengren which is my mother-in-law’s maiden name).
To be honest I have no major issue with my middle name, Ann. Although it does then make my initials RAG or BAG depending on if you call me Rebecca or Becca. I did fudge the eye exam because I wanted to glasses and frankly my eyesight has gotten steadily worse since I was 8 years old, thank god for condensed lenses or I’d be wearing coke bottles.
oh yes…the wrong ordered name….my sister, brother and mom and dad all had thatt!
Niroshi. Its a family tradition to use the middle name with friends and family and the first name professionally. nowadays i use both equally. my fake names are Samuela and Skyla.
When I have a son, his name will be Wolverine. Middle name Logan
You at least have it somewhat normal, my middle name is Jacquelyn, my first name is Karen. I have gone by my middle name my whole life but between school registration and doctors and the government, I have spent my whole life explaining my name. I sign everything KJ because of this. My dad used to tell the story that he had an ex-girlfriend named Karen and he liked the name so my mom agreed but had to call me by my middle name because Jacquelyn Karen didn’t sound right. It is very confusing to sit in the doctor’s office and have them call Karen and no one answers. My husband and I swore that we would not screw up our kids names like our parents did. (He goes by a nickname because he hates his first name.) My son is Jacob Stevan, middle name is after my FIL and my daughter is Jillian Elizabeth, middle name is after my mom. All of us have the intials JG, we are the J family. Jackie, Johnny, Jacob and Jillian, still some people spell my daughter’s name with a G.
oh Amreen – the monograms – I know exactly what you’re talking about. Mine just spelled salt in french…added to why I didn’t like it…
your kids names ROCK. And ask Niemy what he calls me ….Edith is just a part. God.
YOu won’t be alone grumble….I have many friends who prefer the Edith now…..ugh!
That’s hilarious…..I wanted glasses SO badly – now I’m blind as a freaking bat.
i don’t have a middle name. i always wanted one. especially in grade 10 when everyone was getting monogrammed sweaters and i couldn’t get one because of my nonexistent middle initial. I like Edith – it’s charming, sweet and retro.
I don’t have a middle name but was given one at my first real job as “Bindhu” and well it stuck. Just before I got married I had to ask my fiancee to call me by my real name for fear he said our vows with my “nickname”.
Too funny…I tested my kids names out and made sure I could yell them all! Here goes!
Nathan James (James is his grandpa)
Emily Georgia (Emily is my MIL and Georgia is my Mom)
Andrew Vijay (Vijay is my dad)
Think I kept my maiden name because I wanted something different because I didn’t have a middle name…oh and I ALWAYS wanted braces and glasses, both of my sisters had them and me NOTHING…I am the only one without eyes glasses….
Mine is simply my mother’s name. My first son’s middle name is my maiden name which then gave him the initials IIR (I think we subconsciously had a thing for pirates when he was born :). My second, we gave him my mother in law’s maiden name and happily his initials came out NDR, which when sounded out, sounds a lot like my favourite book character, Ender.
My middle name is Rita which is the patron saint of my Great Grandmother’s home village in Italy. She wanted it to be my first name but my mom thought it was too old fashioned so it was relegated to middle name. I like it and makes me feel more connected to my Nona who has since passed away.
We didn’t give our kids middle names. I always thought that with their last names, filling out forms would be a nightmare with an extra name thrown in there. Plus, the Serbs don’t have middle names. Maybe if they want one down the road, we’ll let them pick one (I’ll let you know if either of them choose Edith).
p.s. LOVE Sutton! He really is destined to be an international man of mystery…
Roberta Lynn. Hate it.
Oh Edith, I’ve got you beat. Mine is Una (pronounced Oona). The other option was Agnes, and they thought Una was better. For real. Want to hear the real kicker? My sister’s name is Alison Jean!! They couldn’t have switched up the weird first name with the normal middle name and vice versa??
You know I’m going to call you Sara Edith from this day forward. I’m sorry… I’m just telling you right now, so you can get used to the idea. And, I love it – truly.
My middle name is Gael – I hated it (still kinda do) though I’m used to it. I prefer this spelling to G-a-l-e… but that’s just a detail.
My kids are Oliver Chase, and Ava Scarlett… they’re just names we liked, that seemed to match their faces when they came. They suit. I use both names when I call my son… we use both names with our daughter all the time – not hyphenated, but it’s a two-name name, she’s got. 😉
My middle name is Ellen. I was named after my mom’s older sister – Gladys. Her name was Gladys Ellen, and she NEVER used the name Gladys. Thank goodness. She also had sisters named Edna and Norma – as much as I love my aunties, I’m thankful I didn’t get saddled with their names!! Oh…and my mom’s name was Olive Joan – hence my sister’s middle name “Joan”!!!!! LOL
My kids are Erin Leigh (mom’s maiden name was Burleigh) and Ian Christopher (after my grandfather). With a last name as long as Braithwaite, I wanted them to have short first names so that when they had to fill in those little bubble questionnaire thingys at school, they’d be able to fit their entire name in the space. Weird, but practical!!
Jason Kyle – the trendiest names going in 1969, although my pops calls me J K and that is always fine with me.
My boys are Hudson Taylor, Taylor being my MIL’s maiden name and Tasman’s is Anderson named after my stepfather who was instrumental in my upbringing (which he would claim is an insult).
Great post Edith!
J.
Mine is Lee. My daughter’s middle names are mine & then her father’s middle name. We pretty much knew we weren’t going to have another child, so she got both! The nurses teased us that it was a VERY long name (4 names) for such a tiny girl. She was only 5lbs when she was born.
Sara Edith. It has a nice flow.
I love Will’s middle name.
my kids are:
Campbell William (my maiden name, and both our dads names)
Cuyler James (just a cool name, and my grandad’s name)
Geneva Elizabeth (Sean’s paternal grandmother, my paternal grandmother)
Me? I’m just Christine.
Christine no-middle-name Campbell…
I was the third girl. Who could be bothered to think of 2 more girl names?