Middle Names: 100 fresh choices

Updated Tue Nov 20 2012

As first names become more distinctive and more meaningful, middle names take on those qualities in spades. Anything goes when it comes to middle names now, and parents are looking far beyond the usual given names to find unusual choices.

Four prime sources for middle names: Diminutives such as Jack or Mimi that may honor a beloved friend or relative, nature or animal names, names of heroes of fact or fiction, and inspirational names.

To bring you some new ideas, we’ve mined those areas to come up with 100 fresh choices. Here they are:

Nickname Names

Animal and Nature Names

Hero names

Inspirational Names

New

Which group or individual name would you be most likely to use?

About the Author

Pamela Redmond

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Pamela Redmond is the cocreator and CEO of Nameberry and Baby Name DNA. The coauthor of ten groundbreaking books on names, Redmond is an internationally-recognized baby name expert, quoted and published widely in such media outlets as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, CNN, and the BBC. She has written about baby names for The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, and People.

Redmond is also a New York Times bestselling novelist whose books include Younger, the basis for the hit television show, and its sequel, Older. She has three new books in the works.

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