Second names and compounds
Mexican middle names
Mexico does not really have middle names. It has compound given names, María José, Juan Carlos, Ana Sofía, written as one name and used as one name. Here is how they work, the classic combinations, and short names that make a good second name.
How Mexican compound names work
A Mexican birth certificate has a field for nombre(s) and two fields for apellidos. Parents may register one given name or two, and two was the norm for most of the twentieth century. The pair behaves as a unit: María José is not María with a middle name of José, it is one name, shortened to Majo. José Luis is Joselo, María Fernanda is Mafer, Juan Carlos is Juanca, Luis Ángel is simply Luis Ángel.
The classic pattern uses María for girls and José or Juan for boys as the first element, with the second element carrying the identity: María Guadalupe, María del Carmen, María de la Luz, José Antonio, José Manuel, Juan Manuel. Modern parents flip it, keeping a fashionable first name and adding a grandmother's or grandfather's name second: Sofía Guadalupe, Santiago José, Regina Isabel.
When Mexicans fill in American forms, the second given name becomes the middle name and the second surname is often lost. If you are choosing a middle name in the U.S. for a Mexican-heritage child, the compound tradition is a natural source: María, José, Guadalupe, Luz, Cruz, Ángel, and the grandparents' names.
Compound names, the Mexican way
Registered and used as a single name. The second element is often what the person goes by.
Short second names for girls
Short second names for boys
Indigenous middle names
A Nahuatl or Maya name as the second element honors heritage without changing the daily name.
Mexican middle names FAQ
Do Mexicans have middle names?
Not in the American sense. A Mexican has one or two given names (nombres) and two surnames (apellidos). The second given name, when there is one, is what an American form calls a middle name: in María Fernanda Hernández García, Fernanda is the second given name. Because the second surname is also often mistaken for a middle name abroad, Mexican-Americans get asked this a lot.
What are good Mexican middle names for a girl?
Short Spanish names and word-names pair with almost anything: Luz, Paz, Sol, Ana, Inés, Rosa, Alma, Cruz, Belén, Elena, Lucía, Isabel, Guadalupe (the classic second name), and the Nahuatl Citlali, Xóchitl, or Yólotl.
What are good Mexican middle names for a boy?
José and Ángel are the traditional second names (Miguel Ángel, Luis Ángel, Juan José). Also Luis, Carlos, Pablo, Manuel, Antonio, Cruz, Tomás, Emilio, Rafael, and the Nahuatl Ollin, Tonatiuh, or Tenoch.
What is the most common Mexican compound name?
María José for girls and José Luis for boys, followed by María Fernanda, María Guadalupe, Ana Paula, Juan Carlos, Miguel Ángel, and Juan Pablo.