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==Usage in various regions== {{Citations needed|date=May 2025}} ===India=== Traditional names in [[India]] vary regionally due to its ethnic and religious diversity. Modern [[Hindu]] names across India adopt a first name, which is usually a word in Sanskrit or an indigenous Indian language, a middle name (on rare instances), which is usually the name of a child's father or spouse in case of a married lady followed by the surname which is usually the [[caste]] that the person's family belongs to, usually taken from the father or husband. However, diversity exists even here, for instance middle and last names from the traditionally [[matrilineal]] [[Nair]] community in Kerala are based on the mother's family. For example, in the case of the well-known statesman, [[V. K. Krishna Menon]], his first name would be Krishna, the V stands for Vengyalil, which is a well known aristocratic [[Nair]] family from [[Kerala]] that Krishna's mother belonged to, the K stands for Krishnan, his father's name and the surname is [[Menon (subcaste)|Menon]], one of the [[Nair]] subcastes. In modern times, this name would perhaps be styled as Krishna Vengyalil Krishnan Menon, in that order, Vengyalil Krishnan being the middle name. Traditionally the [[Dalit]] population of India were excluded from India's caste system and do not have a middle name and a [[caste]] surname. The same is true for people who have given up their caste identity, whose name just includes the person's first name followed by their father's name. Sometimes, the place of birth of an individual is included as their middle name. Among the [[Sikhs]] of India, many have adopted the middle name [[Singh]] or [[Kaur]] which mean lion and princess respectively. This is followed by their [[Punjabi people|Punjabi]] caste surname. Nowadays, many Sikhs have done away with their caste surname and have just kept Singh or Kaur as their surname. Among [[Indian Muslims]], similar naming conventions to Hindus and Sikhs are followed, but the names are usually in [[Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]] or [[Urdu]]. ===Philippines=== {{Further|Filipino middle names}} Middle names constitute the mother's maiden surname; is inserted between the given name and the surname (father's surname) and almost always abbreviated signifying that it is a "middle name". For example; given the name Jose Patricio Santos. This is usually abbreviated to Jose P. Santos. The abbreviated "P" signifies it is the maternal maiden surname. If a person has two given names, Jonathan Jose P. Santos, the abbreviated "P" will represent the mother's surname. The given name would therefore be Jonathan Jose. The second name "Jose" is never classified as a middle name. There have been a few documented exceptions, such as [[Benigno Aquino III|Benigno S. Aquino III]], [[Jose P. Laurel]], and [[Manuel L. Quezon]], whose Western-style middle initials actually stand for their second given names Simeon, Paciano, and Luis respectively. ===Scandinavia=== The naming conventions of the Scandinavian countries do not call given names middle names.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mellannamn |url=https://www.isof.se/lar-dig-mer/kunskapsbanker/lar-dig-mer-om-personnamn-i-sverige/mellannamn |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=www.isof.se |language=sv}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=personnamn – Store norske leksikon |language=nb |work=Store norske leksikon |url=https://snl.no/personnamn |access-date=2022-10-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kirkeministeriet |first=Skrevet af |title=Navneregler |url=https://www.borger.dk/familie-og-boern/Navne-og-navneaendring/Navneregler |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=www.borger.dk |language=da}}</ref> While extra first names often are referred to as middle names in everyday language, the laws in those countries do not reflect that and consider all of them first names. A person can have multiple first names,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Förnamn |url=https://www.isof.se/lar-dig-mer/kunskapsbanker/lar-dig-mer-om-personnamn-i-sverige/fornamn |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=www.isof.se |language=sv}}</ref> but usually, only one of them is used in addressing the person. A passport contains all names, but all except the surname are listed as first/given names. Names combined with a hyphen are counted as one name. A person named "Ulrika Britt-Inger Marie Fredriksson" has three first names and one last name, and this individual could choose to go by any of those three first names.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Personnamn |url=https://www.isof.se/lar-dig-mer/skolwebben/svenska-fran-olika-hall---laromedel-om-spraklig-variation/svenska-fran-olika-hall/namn/personnamn |access-date=2022-10-04 |website=www.isof.se |language=sv}}</ref> Unlike the middle names in some English-speaking countries that are used as initials, the additional first names are usually either spelled out in full or fully omitted. Together with a person's personal identification number in [[Personal identity number (Sweden)|Sweden]], [[Personal identification number (Denmark)|Denmark]], [[National identity number (Norway)|Norway]], or [[National identification numbering in Iceland|Iceland]], only signing with the name of address and the last name is usually sufficient for almost all legal documents. A person can change the name they go by to one of the other already given names without applying for a name change. It is possible to apply to have the order swapped if desired, as the first of the first names will be assumed to be the name of address. In [[Denmark]], [[Norway]], and [[Sweden]], the legal term middle name refers most often to names that were originally surnames, but not part of the last name of the name bearer. A middle name could be one's mother's maiden name or the last name of another recent ancestor (for instance a grandparent).<ref>Navneloven (Danish law regarding names). https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2019/767</ref> In the example [[Carl Viggo Manthey Lange]], the names Carl and Viggo are given names, while Manthey is a middle name and Lange is the family name. Manthey is his mother's maiden name. Unless his full name is used, he is correctly referred to as Mr. Lange, not as Mr. Manthey Lange. In [[Sweden]], however, although middle names were introduced in the Name Act of 1963, later called ''tilläggsnamn'' (added name), and then ''mellannamn'' (middle name) in the Name Act of 1983, the Name act of 2017 removed the term entirely. Existing last-name middle names may still be used, but can no longer be added.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ny personnamnlag från och med 1 juli 2017 |url=https://www.skatteverket.se/privat/folkbokforing/namn/nypersonnamnlagfrom1juli2017.4.5c281c7015abecc2e202edad.html |publisher=Skatteverket |language=sv |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418023933/https://www.skatteverket.se/privat/folkbokforing/namn/nypersonnamnlagfrom1juli2017.4.5c281c7015abecc2e202edad.html|archive-date=2021-04-18}}</ref> Occasionally, Scandinavians choose to use their middle name as their surname in everyday life. So [[Gottfrid Svartholm|Per Gottfrid Svartholm Warg]] has Per and Gottfrid as his given names, where Gottfrid, not Per, is his name of address, Svartholm as his middle name and Warg as his last name, but in practice he uses Svartholm as a surname. ===Vietnam=== {{Further|Vietnamese name}} Traditional middle names in Vietnamese are "Văn" for male names and "Thị" for female names. However, modern Vietnamese do not consider these to be attractive names, especially "Thị". Nowadays many popular middle names also are popular first names. Middle names play an important role in Vietnamese full names; they could help create beautiful names when combined with first names, distinguishing people who have the same first name (there are many common last names in Vietnam), and also distinguishing the gender of the names ([[unisex name]]s are used widely in Vietnam). Hence, Vietnamese rarely abbreviate their middle names.
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