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Comment by monitron | Hacker News Reader

My grandfather, born with no middle name, was urged by his colleagues to fabricate one because he needed a middle initial for appearance's sake in his field. Everyone used their middle initial in communications. And besides, you couldn't have a monogram without three initials.

His first name was Alexander, and being a modest man, he settled on a middle initial of "G," which he joked stood for "the Great." Apparently it worked for him. I'm not sure if it was a legal name change but he used it for the rest of his life.

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In the US, generally speaking, you are free to just start using a new name. I did the opposite, dropping my middle name wherever possible and it has only come up once. I even got my current passport issued without my middle name by accident. (I forgot to put my middle name on the application and it was never questioned.)

My mother has gone by her middle name for her entire life, with almost everything she signs up for completely omitting that her first name even exists.

I kept expecting it to cause her problems, but it doesn't seem to have. Of course, dealing with the government means she has to use her first name sometimes, but that's it.

You can use any name you want.

Anyone who knows me calls me by a nickname that isn't documented anywhere, for reasons too long and too boring to go into. It's worked out for me, as generally speaking, if someone calls looking for someone with my legal given name, it isn't someone whom I want to talk to!

Both of my kids are called by a nickname derived from their middle names! Awesome way to distinguish fake association attacks.

I've been asked about why my boarding pass didn't have the same name as my passport once, back when I didn't put a middle name. I'm from France where we traditionally have 3 first names: <actual first name> <godmother|father's first name> <grandmother|father's first name> (at least that's how I was named). For paperwork purposes in the US I had to make up a middle name so I use my second and third names. Say Albert Bernard Charles Dupont would be: "Albert" "Bernard Charles" "Dupont". This way it's also consistent with my passport.

I also don't put my name's accent in most computer systems in the US (é). I have it on Linkedin though, and it trips a surprising amount of automated recruiting emails.

Same story here, I've stopped using both the accents on my name and my middle name years ago, and gotten used to that now. Been thinking about changing my name to officially not include the accents anymore, I don't even like them anymore.

Like many other letters and accents, it may in the end be simplified and lost in time, like the thorn and long s.

> I'm from France where we traditionally have 3 first names: <actual first name> <godmother|father's first name> <grandmother|father's first name> (at least that's how I was named).

as a french... euh quoi ?

Having multiple middle names is common in France. It doesn't mean that all French do it, though.

Yes, that last sentence threw me, as using a name for the rest of your life is a good indicator that it was recognized :D

I changed my last name to my very different middle name, leaving me with no middle name (and thus no initial, alas!). People who have not changed their names overestimate how much anyone cares. For instance, some credit card companies allow you to change your name online. Then they help to perpetuate the change by reporting it to the credit agencies.

My mom ended up using her maiden name, as the health system she worked for couldn't accommodate a person with no middle name.

In Ireland, it used to be common to not have a middle name (although people were referred to by undocumented names, at least in my family). A few relatives who immigrated and were in the military or merchant marine were designated with a middle name of "NMI" because they had no middle initial.

I just leave this here in the hope another programmer will pick it up.

https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-...

Hah... your grandfather nailed my name and nickname.

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