Why was a given only 1 christian name

[Kevinshouse]

I have only 1 christian (or forename) and so have most of my family! I would love to have at least 1 more name, but it is not to be. My beautiful grandson has 3. Could anyone help me with the information that I have, that working class people were just given 1 name (mostly) and that better off people had more names? My father once told me that 1 name was considered enough, anyone any thoughts on this. Only my grandmother had 2 names Jane Elizabeth which I think is lovely.
Kind regards
Susan 

[confused73]

All my family had more than one Christian name, but I have only got one, would like to have had a second although I am happy with my name.

[iolaus]

Some were given names of well off relatives with no offspring on the basis of they had to leave their money to someone, so a namesake had a higher chance

My parents said they gave me a middle name so I'd know when I was in trouble.

My dad didn't have a middle name - some of his elder siblings do (whether that was just because by baby 7 they'd run out of names they liked to give middle names as well)

My grandfather had his mother's maiden name as a middle name

[Kevinshouse]

My grandson has his mothers maiden name for one of his names.  Looks like most of us would like more than 1 name 
Love the idea that names were given to children of childless relatives, to hopefully remember them in their will, I do not think any of my family could have been childless
Kind regards Susan

[Rosinish]

Some were given names of well off relatives with no offspring on the basis of they had to leave their money to someone, so a namesake had a higher chance

I had never heard of this before but would have made sense I suppose 

I have 6 siblings & 5 of us have middle names.

Older brother after grandad & middle name was the saint's day he was born on.

My grandmother picked mine (religious names)

Next brother after last of my paternal grandmothers brothers alive at the time & a bachelor who was head of the family croft - (my brother didn't inherit the croft) !!! 

Next brother named after our g grandad but middle name we have never heard of in the family & my mother was deceased long before I was interested in asking those questions 

Last, my sis named after my mothers sis & middle name was the forename of the landlady of my parents 1st flat with whom they remained friends until her death. She was a spinster with a business & property but my sis did not inherit anything there either  

Annie

Added...........My daughter has 2 names. A friend of mine, her partner had an affair with a woman with an unusual name which I liked so that's where her name came from & her middle name was just a name which sounded good along with her forename & surname. I wonder if that woman I named her after is well off :-)

[Roobarb]

My sister and I don't have middle names but my brother does. When I asked my mother about this she said it was because his name was quite common (it is!) but ours weren't. I haven't come across anyone after whom he may have been Christened so I think perhaps my parents just picked a name they liked. 

[Huckleberry]

"I have only 1 christian (or forename) and so have most of my family! I would love to have at least 1 more name, but it is not to be"


You can call yourself by any name that you choose - Your birth was registered Susan but that was your parents choice -  As long as your name  is not changed for fraudulent purposes  - call yourself Jane Elizabeth Susan.


Jeffery
named in honour of my Scottish gran Meg Jeffery

[BradfordPal]

I come from a deeply working class family in West Yorks and not one of my direct ancestors has got two Christian names.  I thought that this was the norm and that two or more Christian names were for the middle classes. 

Having now done research for other peoples family history who have similar backgrounds to me I have found that it is not that simple.  It seems to be that some working class families did give their children second (or third) names and some didn’t.  I haven’t been able to work out why this was the case but when a family did it went right down the line.

When I was a teenager I remember asking my dad why it was that my sister and I didn't have “middle names”.   I was told that when we were born my parents were so poor that they couldn't afford a middle name for us.  Simple as that.  I never got any other answer so when the subject of middle names comes up I am still using that justification some 45 years later.

Have a great Christmas all.

Martin

[smudwhisk]

My father and his brother both only have a single Christian name, but all of their daughters have both and their father and mother had two Christian names.  My grandfather and his two brothers ran their own company which was fairly successful and the family were definitely "middle class", although their father had only been a warehouseman.

I don't think it has anything to do with class to be honest.  Historically, from my research anyway, many people only seem to have had one Christian name so it may possibly be more to do with that than anything else.