Spokeo used research and government resources to explore how different middle name conventions may complicate the process of getting a Real ID.
The origins and evolution of middle names and their conventions
It's hard to believe, but middle names weren't always a common part of naming conventions. According to author Stephen Wilson, the custom of giving middle names likely started in 13th-century Italy, where it became common among elites before spreading to other social classes. The majority of the middle names, which took another century to reach the outer countryside, were those of saints, "with the idea that those saints would protect the children who bore their names." The custom soon migrated to France and Spain, then to most of Europe and the early United States by the beginning of the 19th century.
The idea behind them? Experts believe the most prominent reason stems from concerns over lineage and inheritance, and attempts to preserve family or community names. But that's not the case in all countries and cultures. Throughout Hispanic countries, the concept of a middle name doesn't exist. In Spanish culture, people either have one or two given names—like Pedro or José Luis—and two surnames (the first belonging to the father and the second to the mother), a way to honor both lineages. More recently, to avoid confusion with anglophone countries, it's become more popular for Hispanic people in the U.S. to add hyphens between their surnames.
Traditional naming conventions in China and Russia also have their own unique patterns. Chinese names typically consist of three characters, with a single-character surname followed by a one or two-character given name. In some families, children are given the same middle character as a way to identify their generational place in the family. Meanwhile, Russian names have three parts: a first name, a patronymic, and a surname. The patronymic is based on the father's first name (with a suffix that signifies "son of" or "daughter of") and is often used with the first name to represent someone's gender, familial link, and regional background.
Within the U.S., a majority of middle names for girls are monosyllabic. In a 2016 study from now-defunct genealogy site MooseRoots, 7 out of the top 10 girl middle names from the years 2010 through 2015 (the most recently studied years) had only one syllable, while boy names tended to be more traditional (Michael, James, Lee) throughout history. In addition, plenty of parents buck traditions with middle names, opting for ones inspired by pop culture or that imbue certain traits.
Regardless of the convention, women are most likely to have issues squaring away their middle names over various documents. According to the Center for American Progress, an estimated 69 million American women and 4 million men don't have birth certificates that match their current legal name. Whether someone has changed their middle name because of marriage, assimilation, or gender identity, many will face the consequences of new and proposed laws and regulations, like the recent SAVE Act, which would require people to present a passport, birth certificate, or alternative citizenship document when they register to vote or update their voter information. Critics say a voting rights bill like this can discriminate based on discrepancies in identification paperwork, making it even more difficult for married women to vote, reports the 19th.
Most adults catching a flight in the United States starting May 7 will be required to present a passport or an upgraded state-issued identification card that meets Real ID standards.
