Top middle names 2010

notepad with handwritten lists of boys’ and girls’ names, surrounded by coloured wooden letters

Photo credit: istock.com / PeerCreative

So you’ve chosen a first name for your baby and have a last name in place, but what goes in the middle?

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Although most people in Australia have middle names, it’s not necessary to choose one if you're stuck. Lots of people don’t have a middle name.

If your baby has a common first and last name, though, a middle name can help her be distinguished from other people with the same name. This can be handy when applying for things such as a passport or bank account.

Middle names are often used to honour a special relative or to carry on a family tradition. And there’s a growing trend to give children two middle names, one from each side of the family.

When a baby's mum and dad have different surnames, the choice of family name for a child can be tricky. Some families get around the issue of choosing a surname name by giving their baby the father’s surname as last name and the mum’s surname as a middle name.

This can work really well if the surname you’re using as a middle name is something like George, Franklin or Li. Or it can become a quirky and unusual middle name if the surname being used is something like Day or Buckley.

Despite these trends, in 2010 most parents gave their baby a traditional middle name. Although some of 2010’s first-name trends are reflected in the list of hottest middle names, most of the top 20 middle names weren’t on the year's list of top 20 first names.

The data was compiled from thousands of names supplied by BabyCenter Australia members who had a baby or were expecting a baby between January and December 2010.

20 most popular girls' middle names

20 most popular boys' middle names

Compare these lists to the most popular middle names of 2017 to see whether there was much change in Australian parents' favourite middle names. And check out the top first names for 2010.

Save the ones that take your fancy to your baby names list.

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