• linearchaos
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    6 months ago

    I used to work with a guy that was from China. He only had a first in a last name. He was going to college here and the college required everyone to have a middle initial as part of their login. They just used his last initial as his middle initial.

    • gerryflap@feddit.nl
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      6 months ago

      Wait does everyone there have a middle name? I’m Dutch and I don’t have a middle name. I figured that was quite common also in the English speaking world

      • linearchaos
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        6 months ago

        I don’t know that it’s absolutely mandatory but it’s definitely pervasive.

      • JusticeForPorygon
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        6 months ago

        I think so, when immigrants get IDs in the US I believe they choose/are given a middle name

        • ylph
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          6 months ago

          Not true, I am a naturalized US citizen, and don’t have a middle name - it was never an issue and I was never asked to come up with one. My son was born in the US and also doesn’t have a middle name.

          • raef
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            6 months ago

            My cousin was given his mother’s maiden name as a middle name when he joined the navy

    • lugal@sopuli.xyz
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      6 months ago

      I knew that middle names are common in the US but I didn’t know it’s so deep in the culture