The middle name is a good place to go a little wild. With the exception of a passport and possibly a marriage certificate, we’re rarely required to reveal our full name as adults.
So if you give your kiddo the middle name Danger, it is usually up to him to reveal his extreme appellation, or to go through life pretending the D is for David.
Then again, he could grow up to be an X-Games athlete, or maybe an International Man of Mystery. Austin Powers, after all, claimed Danger as his middle name. (Though Mike Myers went ahead and called his new son Spike.) It isn’t just an urban legend – from twins in Australia who both share the menacing middle to Jakob Danger Armstrong, son of Green Day frontman Billie Joe, there are kids who do, indeed, have a built-in laugh line in the middle spot.
So let’s say you respect your partner’s longing for a daring, masculine middle – but want something slightly less cliched? Here are a few ideas.
Ace – The Hebrew Asa is right at home with other Old Testament appellations, but Ace conjures up daring fighter pilots and winning hands of cards. It’s a tough guy middle that would pair well with many a popular name.
Blaze – Blaise is saintly, but Blaze is fiery. He’s over-the-top, but in the middle spot, he stays just on the right side of outrageous.
Breaker – From Connor to Carter, ends in -r names have a high style quotient these days. Breaker, like Ryder or Ranger, boasts a modern masculine sound that could appeal. Just don’t complain when you have to move all of the Waterford out of reach.
Draco – As in Harry Potter’s nemesis, but also the constellation, borrowed from the Latin for dragon. Oh, and the seventh century BC Athenian lawgiver, known for replacing blood feuds with a written code of law. Danica McKellar used the name for her son earlier this year.
Harley – The iconic American motorcycle started out as the surname of one of the company’s co-founders. Despite some use for girls, it still revs the engine in the middle spot for a son.
Pendragon – While we’re breathing fire, there’s also Pendragon, sometimes used as a surname or epithet for the legendary King Arthur. Depending on the usage, it could mean “son of the dragon” or “dragon’s head.”
Tiberius – This sounds like a classic appellation borrowed from antiquity – and it is. But it also the middle name of Star Trek’s Captain James T. Kirk. If you love Atticus but he’s not on board, this might satisfy.
What other daring, dangerous names would you add to the list for boys?
I missed this post last week (our internet’s been sketchy), which makes me sad since it’s great! Mark’s been pulling for Tiberius for a while, but I just can’t get behind it, even as a middle name since it IS most famous for being a middle name. Pendragon, however, is AWESOME.
Still, if we do have more kids, I imagine we’ll go the family-honouring route with middle names. I wish I had the guts to use Pendragon in the first position.
Tiberius is a favorite of mine, but it was only recently that I learned of its Trekkie reference. I just have a thing for ancient history.
I would offer up Riot. I have actually encountered it as a first name!
Oooh Vader – my husband was lobbying (although not terribly seriously) for a Star Wars name with our son… I actually, entertained Skywalker at one point (as a mn).
In the middle spot, one of my husband’s coworker’s daughter has Assassin. Really. She is not yet 2 years at this point. As much as I admire the slightly daring middle, this one is too much for me… her first name is not nearly so out there (it’s along the lines of Savannah) and while the sound of Assassin is actually kind of nice, it just makes me think “yikes” every time.
A pair of middles I do really like belong to a friend’s kids: Rocket (boy) and Bee (girl)… I’ve been told the criteria for middles for this family was that they could get a tattoo of it in picture form. Rocket is pretty exciting, I think, and has the added bonus of being not violent. The “adventure” names mentioned, like Pilot, Wilder, and Tiberius really strike a chord for me and I’d put Rocket into that category.
There was a discussion about names on Offbeat Mama, and one of them had a son named Zen Vader. Yes, after Darth Vader. If that’s not dangerous, I don’t know what is.
Harley, Blaze and Ace are somewhat common first name choices, so I dont see them as particularly interesting for the middle spot.
I actually think the first name should be the one to be more unique, as it seperates you from the crowd, gives you your own identitiy. Who cares if you’re Michael Danger? You’ll still be a Michael D. to everyone else.
My son’s middle name is Wilder. I see it as more pastoral and literary, but I think it has a Blaze/Breaker quality to many people. It seems like much more of a name than Breaker to me anyway. 😛
I told my mom the other day that I have always loved the surname Wilder and she said that I could use it if I ever have a son. I said that I’d love it as a middle name 😉