Middle name
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A name between the first given name and the family name or surname; a second or subsequent given name.
"I go by David but it's my middle name; my full name is William David Mason."
- 2 one's mother's maiden name Philippines
"Juan Rico Martinez dela Cruz III is my full name, where Martinez is my middle name, but people just call me "JR"."
- 3 a name between your first name and your surname wordnet
- 4 A trait, activity, or action closely associated with or aptly describing a person. figuratively
"Think twice about playing for cash because "Poker" is her middle name."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"I go by David but it's my middle name; my full name is William David Mason."
Etymology
First recorded from Harvardiana in 1835.
Historically in the Spanish colonial era of the Philippines, the Spanish naming customs traditionally displayed the full name as: : first name + second name + father's surname + Spanish y (“and”) + mother's surname During the US colonial era of the Philippines, the US naming custom took effect where the mother's maiden name is used as a middle + name, which displayed the full name as: : first name + second name + middle name (“mother's surname before marriage”) + last name (“father's surname”)