British Baby Names: Two Middle Names
If there’s one British names trend that Berries all over the world have embraced full-heartedly, it’s the old upper class practice of giving children two middle names.
Rooted in royalty as a way to honor a raft of vaulted relatives, the multiple-middle-name practice was pegged by one visitor to our pages as being “very posh and a bit snobby.”
But it’s also a way for name lovers to indulge their enthusiasm by using more of their favorites on fewer children. Americans who give their babies two middle names are often simply packing more name power into one extended appellation. They may also (as my husband and I were, when we named our daughter Rory Elizabeth Margaret) be adding extra middle names to honor both sides of the family at the same time.
Judging from the birth announcements in the London Telegraph, three-barreled British names are distinct in a couple of important ways:
Flow is not a factor
American baby namers often look for middle names that maximize “flow”: a progression of sounds and syllables that are pleasing to the ear. For the Brits, what matters is to pick names with the right connections, flow be damned. So a name that encompasses discordant styles like Nancy Honor Moone or moves at a two-two-two trot such as Hector Felix Horace is fine, given the relatives who are being honored.
Anything goes
We tend to think of the Brits as being relatively conventional, name-wise, using only traditional proper names such as Elizabeth and Charles. But in practice and as evidenced by the examples that follow, a range of diverse choices can go into the multi-name mix: nicknames such as Annie and Willie, distinctly ethnic choices such as Bronislav and Ichihashi, and surnames such as Stenhouse and Coleridge.
Eccentricity reigns
Given the naming choices detailed above, the end result is often names that have an eccentric air, as if the three choices were picked at random from a baby naming bag. But we think these names, rooted more in meaning and family than in an air-brushed ideal of style, can ultimately be more charming.
Now on to the real goodies: the real British baby names, 20 British girl names and 20 British boy names, from recent London Telegraph birth announcements.
Girl Middle Names
Alice Poppy Belinda
Annie Isabel Meredith
Antigone Clementine Millicent
Beatrice Beverley Kit
Cecilia Catherine Ida
Cressida Helena Christine
Elizabeth Flavia Mary Clifford
Honor Nancy Moone
Ilona Dawn Jean
India Jemima Alice
Indigo Rose Honor
Isla Rosie Ichihashi
Lucinda Veryan Stewart
Mina Victoria Ruby
Ophelia Elizabeth Princess
Orla Naomi Florence
Polly Martha Rosemary
Rose Virginie Finovola
Tallulah Diana Phina
Tilly Elizabeth Amelia
Middle Names for Boys
Archibald Digby Duncan
Auberon Samuel Bronislav
Bertie Pepys Willie
Digby Herbert Emery
Freddy Ian Kim
Hector Felix Horace
Henry Charles Allan William
Hugo Arpad Lucius
Humphrey Arthur Edward
Jasper John Dexter
Joash Simon Hector
Kit Hallifax Charles
Maximilian Cassius Stenhouse
Ned Benjamin Holland
Orlando Sebastian Rees
Otto Rupert Coleridge
Peregrine James Kingham
Rafe Harry Hassan
Ranulph Patrick Guy
Wilfred Piers John
This adorable birth announcement by Tiny Prints.