General Chat

My pharmacist wants to know if there's a term for people who are known only by their middle name (apart from 'nuisance')

He's known me for years and was baffled by the fact that the name on my prescription (my first given name) was different from the one (my middle name) by which I was generally known. He says it's a problem he has with lots of his customers and he is sure there is a term for such people. I told him that I had been into genealogy for years and had never come across a generic name for the condition but that I would ask my friends on GR and get back to him with the consensus of opinion Come on all you knowledgeable people len

Parents that were nuts and wanted to confuse everyone! Ros

What is your REAL NAME? Ros

I think it's a catholic thing. In my dads family they were all given a saints name as their first name, and then a middle name. They were all known by their middle names! AL

Len, dunno, MY name is robert edward, my confirmation name was Matthew....take a pick. REM.....? random eye movements..........in the dark......LOL Bob

Rosalyn - Leonard. I used to add my surname too but dropped doing that when people traced my home and telephone number to have a go at me about some of my threads. len

Not sure of the catholic link, My mum has always been known by her middle name and she is church of England.

From the age of 5 my brother has been known as his middle name as 3 more babies were named the same name in the family as well as my brother and uncle, it got really confusing. Jackie

Yes, but does anyone know of a generic label for the practice? len

My grand father was called George Alan but known all his life as Alan, I asume this was because his grandfather was also an George as was his uncle. The girls on the GP's reception desk and the GPs knew he was known by his middle name and addressed him accordingly. Only time he was ever called George was in Hospital and he wouldn't answer, fortunatly my dad was playing taxi at the time and gave my randfather a nudge and said 'that's you'. My mother also has a cousin thats known by the middle name but thats because their parents didn't want to call him It before birth so named him aand thay refered to the baby by name when speeking to the older siblings - the name stuck after birth but was registered with a different first name (e.g. baby known as Alex but named James Alexander or Jane Alexandra after birth depending on gender )

I have a great niece who decided in her middle teens that she didn't like her first name so decided to use her middle name. Ten years later, I'm still trying to remember what to call her! We have a friend who is known by one name ......... but that name is none of the THREE christian names that he has. His parents referred to him in utero by name but then didn't give him that name after birth. THAT is the name by which he has been known for close to 70 years. His entry in the telephone book is classic ...... eg, A.B.C. (Dan) Smith (and yes, his real surname is another common one!)

Midinomenclatures? Or some such thing?