Despite their relatively long existence in the Western world, the phrase "middle name" was not coined until 1835 in "Harvardiana", a school song of Harvard. Since 1905, "middle name" gained a figurative connotation meaning a notable or outstanding attribute of a person. This figurative use is especially popular in films (see "Quotes" in External links).
American Southerners often are referred familiarly to by both their first and middle names, such as Billy Joe and M.E. (Mary Elizabeth). Also, a substantial number of Southerners use their middle names in place of their first names; this practice appears to be less common in other parts of the United States.
Some middle names sound antiquated because they are chosen from those of the family's ancestors, as the parents may have chosen them by glancing over the family tree.
Aside from the most popular middle names taken from first names, surnames (such as Hall or Walker) may also be taken as middle names, sometimes to commemorate a relative by such names.
Sometimes in popular references, only the first letter is used (e.g., John A. Macdonald), or the middle names are unmentioned (Herbert Hoover). Occasionally, while the middle is given full, only the first letter of the first name is used (e.g., F. Lee Bailey) or unmentioned (e.g., Woodrow Wilson).
Examples of multiple middle names: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor (Queen Elizabeth II), J. R. R. Tolkien, and V. V. S. Laxman.
French and Spanish men sometimes have female middle name, like Marie or Maria.
Many Asian immigrants and Taiwanese personalities anglicize their given name and convert it to an authentic middle name, after an native English first name, such as James Chu-yu Soong and Jerry Chih-Yuan Yang (the second syllable of the middle name is officially not capitalized, but usually is in overseas Chinese's names). If the Chinese given name has two syllables, it may be written as "two" middle names, especially Cantonese ones, such as Teresa Shan Leung Wong. There are also a minority whose Chinese given names ae their the first names, and have English middle names.
Vietnamese traditionally have middle names (chữ dem or chữ lót) that distinguish between the gender. Over 80% of Vietnamese women have Thị (meaning "woman") as their middle names. There are more male middle names, such as Văn ("scholar"), Huu, Duc, Dinh, Xuan, Ngoc, Quang, and Cong. The Nguyen royalties' middle names are from a generation poem. Vietnamese middle names are often not used now, especially males. In a 1988 study, 22% of Vietnamese men have no middle names. Western
Middle names are chosen by parents at the same time as the first name. In some families, it is popular to give the baby the mothers' maiden names. Popular middle names are identical to those of first names, such as John, James, David, etc., with an emphasis on biblical figures (again, like first names).East and Southeast Asian
Sometimes the first syllables of Chineese and Korean given names are considered middle names, because they are positioned in the middle of a name (if the person has a two-syllable name), like Wong Shan-leung, where Shan is the "middle". Although technically incorrect, since many Chinese also have only one syllable in their given name, so there is no middle position in their full name. (See Chinese name, Korean name, Japanese name)