Middle Names, Surnames, and Nicknames
Middle Names with Meaning
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About this list
Middle names with meaning have become important to more and more parents, as middle names are seen less as connective tissue and more as a way to invest extra significance in your child's name. A middle name with strong personal meaning may be the name of a beloved friend or family member, a surname rescued from your family tree, or — in the case of the meaningful names here — a choice with an inspirational feel.
Of course, even the most common of middle names can be meaningful if they carry special significance. Be it Grace or Glimmer, Lee or Legacy, the most important thing is that it has a connection to you and your family.
Meaningful middle names for babies do much more than bridge the first name and the last. Get inspiration from the names below.
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The names
Aria
Italian and Hebrew
"air; song or melody; lion"
Aria is a multi-cultural name with two extremely popular versions: this more word-like one along with Arya, the spelling used for the feisty young heroine of Game of Thrones . There were about 6400…
Grace
English, virtue name
Grace, a simple and pure virtue name which originally referred to divine grace, is a fashionable classic. In the early 2000s, it seemed headed for the Top 10 but pulled back from the upward…
Nova
Latin
"new"
Nova has the feel of both newness, from its meaning, and great energy as an astronomical term for a star that increases suddenly in brightness before fading. Nova had some reasonable degree of…
Maverick
American
"independent, nonconformist"
It's ironic that the name Maverick is not such a maverick anymore. Heard first in a 1950s James Garner western TV series, and then as the Tom Cruise character in Top Gun , Maverick symbolizes an…
Angel
Spanish and English
"angel, messenger"
As a boys' name, Angel has two distinct name personalities. One is as a perennial favorite Hispanic boys’ name , popular in the US along with Spain, Mexico, and South America. Then Buffy the Vampire…
River
Nature name
River shares the tranquil feeling of all the water names, and seems to have pretty much escaped its past strong association with River Phoenix and his unfortunate fate. Actor Joaquin Phoenix named…
Summer
Word name
The temperature is definitely rising for this popular seasonal name, which began being used in the seventies, and has been heard consistently ever since. Summers have popped up all over the big and…
Haven
Word name, English
"a place of safety"
Haven is a recently invented safe-harbor name that appeals to an increasing number of parents who don't want to voyage quite as far as Heaven. Haven Kimmel is the author of the bestselling memoir A…
Legend
English
"hero or fable"
Legend joins cousins Story, Saga and Fable in the baby name pantheon of narrative words. Unlike Story and Fable, however, Legend comes with additional weight, being used for fame ("living legend")…
Faith
Virtue name
Faith is one of the most straightforward of the virtue names popularized by the Puritans in the seventeenth century, many parents still choosing it as an indicator of their religious conviction.…