Q: These were very rare in Europe until Medieval times and even then they were scarce. By the early 1900s nearly all North Americans had at least one of these. However, not every culture has them. What are they?
A: Middle names.
Traditionally in Europe, people had a given name and a surname or patronymic last name to track family lines. It wasn’t until the late Medieval period that middle names began popping up, and even then, they were reserved for nobility. In fact, there was even an old law that made it illegal for the common population to use middle names.
This tradition carried over to the colonies of America, as evidenced by early Massachusetts birth records revealing middle names weren’t given in Boston at all in the 1600s. A few appeared in the 1700s, with just 5% of Americans born at the time of the Revolutionary War, given middle names.
The 19th century saw a population boom in both the United States and Europe, and as a result, more names were used to stand out amongst peers who may have shared common first or last names. By 1900, nearly all American-born children had middle names. Enlistment forms for World War I even had a middle name space, reflecting the overarching change in culture toward naming.
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