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Word of Mouth

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What’s your middle name? Do you use it and like it, and is there any story about its origin?

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Published: January 20, 2011

  • My name is Ilene Rose. In the Jewish tradition, babies are named after a person who is deceased. The soul of the departed enters the baby and lives on. While recuperating in the hospital after giving birth, my mother was visited by a friend of my grandmother whose wife had died. They were childless. He asked my mother to name her newborn after his beloved wife, Rose, whom my mother did not know. My mother happily said she would and thus gave me my middle name. Whenever I think about it, this story reminds me what a big heart my mother had, and what a kind and generous person she was. For this reason, I think Rose is the most beautiful name I could have.

    Ilene Rose Fleischmann
    Vice Dean for Alumni, PR and Communications
    Law School

  • My middle name is Henry. I carry my father’s first and middle names. I use my middle initial with my signature, but do not use my middle name. Growing up I knew of few others with the name Arthur, even fewer named Henry. At that time more than 50 years ago, both seemed “old fashion.” We did have a neighbor named Hank, but that’s not the same as Henry. While there appears to have been an increased interest in recent years in the name Henry, I don’t think Arthur is ever going to make the grade. The Arthur Henry chain ended with me. My son is named Keith Andrew.

    Arthur Page
    Assistant Vice President for Strategic Communications
    University Communications

  • My middle name is Robert and there is a funny story behind it. I have a twin brother, and back in those days they did not know someone was having twins until the babies were born. My parents had chosen the name Ronald Jay and when my dad found out in the delivery room that there were two boys he made a mistake. He was supposed to name the first child Ronald Jay (which he did correctly), and was supposed to name the second child Jay Ronald and wrote Jay Robert on the birth certificate instead.

    Jay R. Friedman
    Associate Vice President
    Alumni Relations

  • I love my middle name. It is Lenore. I was named after my father’s hometown, which is Lenoir, N.C. Lenoir is known as the furniture capital of the U.S. It is located in western North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.



    Kelly L. Patterson
    Assistant Professor
    School of Social Work

  • My middle name is Jean. I do like it, but I only use my middle initial. There are no other Jeans that I know of in our family, but my father and older sister have called me DJ ever since I can remember.

    Donna J. Czaja
    Manager of Customer Solutions
    Business Reporting and Systems

  • My middle name is Samuel—I often use the initial “S.” I am very proud of it, as I was named after my grandfather. Although I never knew him, he was a World War I veteran and owner of a small shop in Binghamton. Samuel was highly respected and beloved in our family; two of my cousins and my nephew also were named after him!

    Jeffrey S. Bloomberg
    Project Manager
    School of Social Work

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