How do I say middle name?

Question

how do I say it in spanish when talking about myself and saying that my nick name comes from my middle name?

Glad to see that you changed your question. - 0074b507, Dec 21, 2009

Answer 1

I agree with Qfreed. I commonly hear hispanics in my area say 'segundo nombre' when referring to what I would think of as the 'middle name'.

Cool, that's exactly what I used recently in the 'name game' post! - Chavag, Dec 22, 2009

Answer 2

In Spanish, people has "nombre(s)" and "apellidos". Commonly one or two nombres, and two apellidos, but just one "apellido" when a single mother give hers to their children.

The "apellidos" come one from the father and one from the mother, in that order and always are located at the end of a person's name. They can be referred as the family names. Some "apellidos" have more than one word, but mostly are just one word.

So, a person can have one, two or more given names and those are called: primer nombre, segundo nombre, tercer nombre, etc. but can only have 2 apellidos.

A special case is the members from the royal European families, they can have a lot of nombres and apellidos, but simple mortals like me like to keep it simple.

Answer 3

Middle name may not have the same connotation to someone of Spanish origin, because their names (especially married women) may be longer than ours and the "middle" name may have a different significance than in Billy Bob Jones or Mary Lou Smith. If your middle name represents your grandfather's name, e.g., it's a little different than in Betty Lou.

apodo and sobrenombre are some terms for nickname.

I think second name would be more appropriate, but that's too easily confused with your last name in English.

I would state your 3 names and then say my second name,xxxxx, is the basis for my nickname: .....

My name is Robert Theodore Brown and my nickname Teddy is based on my 2nd name, Theodore.