Middle name
Overview
 
People's name
Name
A name is a word or term used for identification. Names can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. A personal name identifies a specific unique and identifiable individual person, and may or may not include a middle name...

s in several cultures include one or more additional names placed between the first given name
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...

 and the surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

. In Canada and the United States all such names are specifically referred to as middle name(s); in most European countries they would simply be regarded as second, third, etc. given names. In some countries there is usually only one middle name, and in the United States and Canada it is often abbreviated
Abbreviation
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...

 to the middle initial (e.g.
Quotations

Actually, my name is Austin Powers. Danger is my middle name. -- Austin, in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery|Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Danger's my middle name! Well, actually it's Quincy, but you guys get the picture. -- Steve Urkel in Family Matters

Call me Eugene. It's my middle name. --Jerome Morrow in Gattaca

Reference: Gattaca|Gattaca is a film about eugenics.

Oh, forgiveness is my middle name. Well, actually it's LaVelle, and I'd appreciate it if you guard that secret with your life. -- Xander Harris, Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Teacher's Pet"

I can handle this. "Handle" is my middle name. Actually, "handle" is the middle of my first name. -- Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), Friends

And my middle name used to be Helping People. The Helping People Tick. -- The Tick, The Tick

We'll put that stuff at the back, not in the window. Luxury is not our middle name. -- Margaret Atwood|Margaret Atwood, Robber Bride (414)

'Cause Privacy is my middle nameMy last name is Control.No, my first name ain't Baby—It's Janet. Miss Jackson, if you're nasty.— Janet Jackson, "Nasty"

Actually, Scarlet is my middle name. My whole name is Will Scarlet O'Hara. [pauses] We're from Georgia. -- Will Scarlet, Robin Hood: Men in Tights

 
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