I was six years old. It was my first day of public school. I had attended a private kindergarten and now I could go to the school that was only one block from our house just like my big sister. I was excited. We lived in a small town, so I already knew most of the other kids in my class. On the first morning of the first day our teacher Mrs. Beck asked us to introduce ourselves using our full names: first, middle and last. That was a problem for me. I don’t have a middle name. I do, however, have a middle initial. Looking back on that day as an adult, I suspect that the teacher said something like, “You must have a middle name, ask your mother when you go home for lunch.” What I heard was, “You have to have a middle name to go to school.” I fought the tears as I waited for the bell to ring that signaled lunch time. I ran home in a near panic, fearing that my educational career had come to a premature end because I lacked a necessary ingredient for attending school. My mother told me not to worry. She wrote a note for me to give to the teacher when I returned to school after lunch. As far as I can remember, no further mention of my middle name was made.

I don’t remember the middle names of hardly any of my first grade classmates. I can think of first and last names, but we didn’t use the middle names enough for me to learn them. Or, perhaps, I no longer remember things I once knew. That would be true of other facts about my first grade education.

Names have been a common topic of conversation in our family. Our children were careful in their choice of names for their children. Three of our grandchildren have middle names that come from other family members. Elliot Thomas has his uncle’s name for a middle name. Emmala Eve shares her aunt’s middle name. Patrick Anthony is the fifth generation on his father’s side to carry the middle name Anthony. Two of our grandchildren have family values as middle names. Eliza Serenity is a reminder of Reinhold Niebuhr’s famous prayer. Eero True’s name challenges all of us to be true to our identities.

My mother was one of five daughters in her family. They were not given middle names and all used their maiden name as a middle name as adults. I would have learned the names of my ancestors on her side of the family. I know her maternal grandparents’ names which did not continue into her generation. Still, I like thinking of her father and his family when I think of my mother and her name.

My siblings all have middle names. I don’t know the reason why I didn’t have a middle name. I never got an explanation from either of my parents. I have the same initial as my father, whose middle name was Eli - a strong Biblical name. The joke I make about my name is that when my folks got a look at me after my birth they decided that a short name was in order so that I would be able to learn to spell it. When it comes to letters, I got the fewest of the boys in my family: Ted E, Vernon Walter, Daniel Lloyd, and Ralph Craig. My sisters all got middle names and more letters too: Beverly Ann, Nancy Lee, and Lois Katherine. On the other hand, of all of my siblings, I have been the one who has earned his living with words. I’m not a half bad speller as it turned out.

When I got my first driver’s license, issued by the state of Montana, it was imprinted like this: Ted E (only) Huffman, which was better than my classmate, Brad, who also had only an initial, but who received his driver’s license without the parenthesis. It said: “Brad Lonly.” We teased him about it for a little while after he earned his license.

Today, March 11, has been designated Middle Name Pride Day. Middle Name Pride Day is celebrated on the first Friday of the first full week in March. I’m not sure how one is to celebrate such a holiday. According to the National Today website Middle name Pride Day was established in 1997 by American onomatologist Jerry Hill. I had to look up onomatologist to figure out what it meant. Onomastics or onomatology is the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. I could not, however, find the middle name of Jerry Hill.

National Today suggests that we celebrate Middle Name Pride Day by revealing our middle name to at least three persons. In my case, I don’t think that would be very dramatic. “I just thought you should know that I don’t have a middle name, only an initial. My middle initial is E.”

Our family once hosted an exchange student from Guatemala. He had a string of middle names. The paperwork for his exchange listed him as Juan Carlos. However, he could list a long stream of middle names that revealed his genealogy, listing the maiden names of his mother and grandmothers after his first name. Other cultures have different traditions when it comes to middle names. British royalty almost always have at least four names. Queen Elizabeth’s full name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary.

In some places and times, middle names were the names given at birth preceded by another name given at baptism. One name was known as the “Christian” name, the other as the “given” name.

I guess that we could recognize Middle Name Pride Day as an opportunity to explore different cultural traditions. We might also use it to explore family histories and traditions. It could also be a time to tell the stories of how we got our names. Then again, just as I do not have a middle name, I also don’t have a real story of how I ended up with the name that I have.

So, happy Middle Name Pride Day. At least the day gave me a topic for a journal entry.