middle name
Americannoun
noun
-
a name between a person's first name and surname
-
a characteristic quality for which a person is known
caution is my middle name
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of middle name
An Americanism dating back to 1825–35
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fernanda asked to be identified by only her middle name because of her immigration status.
From Salon • Mar. 24, 2026
Haley described a little girl who looked a lot like the murder victim, Bethany Alana Clark, who would say her middle name was Alasee and pronounced it “all ah see-ah.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026
“It was almost like the system was taunting me,” said Alex, who is now a Cal State University graduate student and chose to use his middle name for fear of being targeted by immigration authorities.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025
The BBC discovered that the takeover was funded by a bank transfer from a company owned by a UK-based Romanian lorry driver named Ionut Calin, who went by his middle name Robert.
From BBC • Nov. 17, 2025
Honestly, another middle name might have been better.
From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
