Meanings
middle name1
plural middle names
- A name between the first given name and the family name or surname; a second or subsequent given name.
María is a common middle name in Spanish, as in José María García.
1 more example
I go by David but it's my middle name; my full name is William David Mason.
- figurativelyA trait, activity, or action closely associated with or aptly describing a person.
I won't tell anyone. "Discretion" is my middle name.
3 more examples
Think twice about playing for cash because "Poker" is her middle name.
Oddly enough, it had never yet occurred to her to wonder what other women made of Peter, or he of them. This must argue either very great confidence or very great indifference on her part; for, when one came to think of it, eligibility was his middle name.
1935, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy NightRe-elect Mayor Goldie Wilson! Progress is his middle name!
1985, Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, Back to the Future
middle name2
plural middle names
- PhilippinesOne's mother's maiden name.
Juan Rico Martinez dela Cruz III is my full name, where Martinez is my middle name, but people just call me "JR".
1 more example
Maria Clara Teresita Reyes dela Cruz is my full name, where Reyes is my middle name, but you can call me Tessie or Tess.
Origin
middle name · noun
Historically in the Spanish colonial era of the Philippines, the Spanish naming customs traditionally displayed the full name as: : first name + second name + father's surname + Spanish y (“and”) + mother's surname During the US colonial era of the Philippines, the US naming custom took effect where the mother's maiden name is used as a middle + name, which displayed the full name as: : first name + second name + middle name (“mother's surname before marriage”) + last name (“father's surname”)
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan segon prenom, nom del mig
- segon prenomname between given name and surname
- nom del migname between given name and surname
Chinese Mandarin 中間名字 /中间名字
- 中間名字 /中间名字 (zhōngjiān míngzi)name between given name and surname
Czech prostřední jméno, druhé jméno
- prostřední jménoname between given name and surname
- druhé jménoname between given name and surname
Finnish toinen nimi, välinimi
- toinen niminame between given name and surname
- väliniminame between given name and surname
- toinen nimifiguratively a trait, activity, or action closely associated with or aptly describing a person
French deuxième prénom, patronyme
- deuxième prénomname between given name and surname
- patronymename between given name and surname
German zweiter Vorname, Zwischenname
- zweiter Vornamename between given name and surname
- Zwischennamename between given name and surname
- Zweitnamename between given name and surname
- Mittelnamename between given name and surname
Icelandic millinafn
- millinafnname between given name and surname
Irish lárainm, dara hainm
- lárainmname between given name and surname
- dara hainmname between given name and surname
Japanese ミドルネーム
- ミドルネーム (midoru nēmu)name between given name and surname
Korean 미들네임
- 미들네임 (mideulleim)name between given name and surname
Polish drugie imię, drugie imię
- drugie imięname between given name and surname
- drugie imięfiguratively a trait, activity, or action closely associated with or aptly describing a person
Portuguese nome do meio
- nome do meioname between given name and surname
Russian второ́е и́мя, сре́днее и́мя
- второ́е и́мя (vtoróje ímja)name between given name and surname
- сре́днее и́мя (srédneje ímja)name between given name and surname
- о́тчество (ótčestvo)name between given name and surname
Slovak druhé meno
- druhé menoname between given name and surname
Spanish segundo nombre, apellido
- segundo nombrename between given name and surname
- apellidofiguratively a trait, activity, or action closely associated with or aptly describing a person
- segundo nombrefiguratively a trait, activity, or action closely associated with or aptly describing a person
- apodofiguratively a trait, activity, or action closely associated with or aptly describing a person
Swedish andranamn
- andranamnname between given name and surname
Tagalog gitnang pangalan, gitnang apelyido
- gitnang pangalanname between given name and surname
- gitnang apelyidoname between given name and surname
Vietnamese tên đệm, tên lót
- tên đệmname between given name and surname
- tên lótname between given name and surname
Cite this entry
middle name. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/middle%20name
“middle name.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/middle%20name. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “middle name,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/middle%20name.
Source: middle name on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.