Names are important. Oftentimes, for better or worse, a person’s name is what determines your first impression of them before you ever meet them. It’s a good idea to give your child a nice, strong name. Give them that extra help going forward in life. Give them a name that they can be proud of and will happily go by for the rest of their life. Victoria is one of those names. You picked a good one for your kid.
A name with Latin origins, your child would be sharing their name with Victoria the Roman goddess of victory, Queen Victoria, and Spice Girls singer Victoria Beckham, now that’s setting your child on the right path. However, Victoria isn’t the only name you’ll be giving your child. They also need a middle name. The only problem is finding the best middle names for Victoria, which can be tough. But, why do you need to give your child a middle name?
What is the point of a middle name?
Middle names exist in quite a number of cultures, it’s not just a western thing. Largely, from a practical standpoint, middle names are used to help differentiate people with common first names or last names (i.e. John Smith and John Smith become John Brian Smith and John David Smith with the help of middle names). But, outside of the practical reasons, there are also many cultural reasons for middle names too.
In English-speaking countries, such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the first name of a relative is sometimes used as one’s middle name to honor familial heritage. For example, a child’s middle name may be the first name of one of their parents or grandparents or another relative of significance. It is also not uncommon for a middle name to be chosen to honor a family friend or public figure that holds significance to the parents. In some rare cases, a middle name in English-speaking areas may be just a single letter. Former United States President Harry Truman’s middle name was simply “S”. Another popular tradition in English-speaking countries is for a child’s middle name to be their mother’s maiden name, to honor the family tree.
In Chinese culture, they do not have a middle name in the traditional sense. They have a three-character name. Where the first character is the family name, the second indicates the generation in their family, and the third is the given name. Even though they don’t use middle names in the way English countries think of them, they still largely are used to honor family. As an extension to this, Chinese Americans will, for legal documentation, often adopt an English name for their first name and adopt their generation and given name as a middle name. For example, famous martial artist and actor Bruce Lee was born Lee Jun-fan (or 李振藩) and changed it to Bruce Junfan Lee after making it big.
India has a lot of different traditions surrounding middle names, thanks largely to the extensive ethnic and religious diversity that is found across the country. Hindu names will often have the middle name be the name of the father. In the Nair community, middle names come from the mother’s family. The Dalit community doesn’t have middle names. Believe it or not, that only scratches the surface of all the different communities and groups in India and the cultural significance of their middle names.
In Scandinavian countries, like Denmark and Norway, it’s standard for the middle name to be the mother’s maiden name or the last name of a recent ancestor. However, some do break away from that mold with people, mainly in the upper class, having their middle name be the last name of their godparent.
In Vietnam, middle names are very important for social and cultural reasons. Middle names are used in a number of different ways. First, to indicate a person’s generation (similar to what they do in China as mentioned above). Second, to separate branches of a large family. A less common usage of a middle name is to indicate a person’s position in the family, specifically the birth order. The most common usage is to provide a poetic and positive meaning when the person’s name is said in full.
In the 20th century, after becoming a United States Colony, the Philippines adopted the naming convention of a given name, middle name, last name. With the middle name usually being the mother’s surname. But, before that, it was more common to just have a given name and then a combination of your parent’s surnames as a surname.
There are also a wide variety of countries that have their own cultural naming process that simply does not include middle names, like Brazil and Portugal.
So, what is the point of a middle name? Well, the point is whatever you want it to be. Cultures all over the world have all different types of traditions for middle names or don’t even have them at all. It’s up to you what you want to do. Want to choose a name that honors family? Sure, go ahead. Want to choose a name that honors a prominent figure in society? You can do that. Want to choose a name simply because you like how it sounds when combined with your child’s first and last name? Sounds good to me. Middle names can be as important or unimportant as you want them to be. It is entirely up to you.
But are middle names important?
Well, outside of the cultural reasons mentioned above? Middle names are still a little important. No matter what name you choose and no matter why you chose it, that middle name is going to follow your child for their whole life. It will be on all their legal documents and identifications. It will be said out loud at their graduation. They might have to say what it is as a first date ice breaker. Also, for one reason or another, their middle name might become the that the child will choose to go by. Whatever reason you have, to choose the middle name you chose for your child, just remember all of this. Because it is a name that they will have to live with.
How should you choose a middle name?
If you aren’t going down the cultural route for choosing a middle name, and don’t want to honor anyone with it, then the middle name should be chosen based on how it sounds. First, middle, and last names should, when said together, flow very naturally and have a good mouthfeel to them. It should fit like a puzzle piece between the first and last names. It’s a name that you’ll know is the right name as soon as you say it out loud, It’ll just fit.
You already have the first name picked out, Victoria. It’s hard to say the best middle name without knowing the last name, but here are 99 of the best middle names for Victoria.
Best Middle Names for Victoria
These are in no particular order, I hope you find one you like!
- Victoria Charlotte
- Victoria Ava
- Victoria Sarah
- Victoria Elizabeth
- Victoria Grace
- Victoria Harper
- Victoria Luna
- Victoria Sofia
- Victoria Emily
- Victoria Avery
- Victoria Mila
- Victoria Scarlett
- Victoria Eleanor
- Victoria Madison
- Victoria Layla
- Victoria Penelope
- Victoria Holly
- Victoria Caroline
- Victoria Dawn
- Victoria Louise
- Victoria Lynn
- Victoria Ellie
- Victoria Nora
- Victoria Hazel
- Victoria Zoey
- Victoria Riley
- Victoria Lily
- Victoria Violet
- Victoria Nova
- Victoria Hannah
- Victoria Emilia
- Victoria Stella
- Victoria Addison
- Victoria Willow
- Victoria Lucy
- Victoria Paisley
- Victoria Natalie
- Victoria Naomi
- Victoria Eliana
- Victoria Brooklyn
- Victoria Elena
- Victoria Aubrey
- Victoria Claire
- Victoria Ivy
- Victoria Kinsley
- Victoria Audrey
- Victoria Maya
- Victoria Skylar
- Victoria Bella
- Victoria Aaliyah
- Victoria Madelyn
- Victoria Savannah
- Victoria Anna
- Victoria Delilah
- Victoria Caroline
- Victoria Kennedy
- Victoria Valentina
- Victoria Ruby
- Victoria Sophie
- Victoria Alice
- Victoria Gabriella
- Victoria Sadie
- Victoria Ariana
- Victoria Allison
- Victoria Hailey
- Victoria Autumn
- Victoria Natalia
- Victoria Quinn
- Victoria Josephine
- Victoria Sarah
- Victoria Cora
- Victoria Emery
- Victoria Samantha
- Victoria Piper
- Victoria Leilani
- Victoria Eva
- Victoria Everleigh
- Victoria Madeline
- Victoria Lydia
- Victoria Jade
- Victoria Peyton
- Victoria Blake
- Victoria Ruth
- Victoria Alani
- Victoria Annabelle
- Victoria Sage
- Victoria Lila
- Victoria Rachel
- Victoria Trinity
- Victoria Daniela
- Victoria Alexa
- Victoria Lilly
- Victoria Lauren
- Victoria Elsie
- Victoria Margot
- Victoria Adelyn
- Victoria Zuri
- Victoria Brooke
- Victoria Sawyer
There are thousands of names that could have gone on that list, so if you didn’t like any of them, that’s perfectly fine. All that truly matters, all that truly makes for the best middle name for Victoria is that it’s a name that you like. That it’s a name that you and your partner like. It’s your kid, you can give them whatever middle name you want.
I hope in some way that he was able to help you come up with the perfect middle name for your child. It’s not an easy thing to do, but you’ll figure it out sooner or later. Good luck and have fun!
I’m Cathrine and I’m a 39-year-old mother of 3 from Utica, New York. And I’m extremely happy you’ve come to visit my hide-out on the web. Here I post about everything related to family-life and usually it will involve babies and lessons I’ve learned over the years from experts, friends, and my own mistakes. So hopefully you will find what i write fun and informational!
