> Middle names are ignored, but they're so
>important.
>
> Such as in the following situation.
>
> Okay, the Winklers are going to have a baby.
>
> They have a name picked out which they love,
>and it would be perfect for their child. The
> name is uncommon yet not weird, pretty-sounding
>yet not impossible to spell, and does not rhyme
>with "nerd" or "butt" or any other word which
>would lend itself to an unshakable nickname.
>
> However, Mr. Winkler's mother has helped them a
>lot during the time of pregancy, and has loaned
> them a great deal of money. The Winklers are
>worried that they may not have a chance to pay
>Gramma Winkler back anytime soon.
>
> Gramma Winkler would be thrilled if the child
>was named after her. The Winklers know that
> Gramma will be more forgiving on the interest >payments if she has a namesake. However,
>Gramma's name would doom the child to a life
>with an undesirable handle.
>
> So, it's Middle Name to the rescue! And Fiona
>Bungheifer Winkler is born. Gramma is ecstatic,
>and Fiona's friends wonder about her enigmatic
>middle initial for the rest of her life.
>

Heh. My middle name is actually my family-unique name. I'm named after my maternal grandfather (and thank goodness for that, since everybody on my father's side of the family had a penchant for picking HORRIBLE names for their children), and my middle name is just one my parents liked.

Personally, I've always found middle names a little weird. Is it a cultural thing? How many people on this planet have three names? How many have two? Just one? More than three?

And while I'm at it, what's the deal with the repeated name that seems fairly common in Arabic nations? For instance, the guy who shot Robert Kennedy was named Sirhan Sirhan. And the Foriegn Minister for the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan is Abdullah Abdullah.

-- Dave