List of people who use their middle names as their first names

This is a list of people who use their middle names, or one of their middle names, or a diminutive form of their middle name, such as Bob for Robert or Ted for Edward, as their first names. The list includes actors, athletes, authors, business people, celebrities, historical figures, musicians, politicians, singers, social media personalities and television personalities.

Notable siblings who use their middle names as their first names include Mike McCartney and Paul McCartney and Elle Fanning and Dakota Fanning. Notable fathers and sons include NBA basketball players Corey Crowder and Jae Crowder; stock car racing drivers Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr., American actors Stacy Keach Sr. and Stacy Keach, and American television personalities Art Linkletter and Jack Linkletter. There are four U.S. presidents, four first ladies of the U.S., one first lady of Argentina and ten Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom on the list. There are two people with the most middle names, Samantha Eggar and Keenan Wynn, both of who chose one out of five middle names to use as their first name.

Background
The term "middle name" made its debut in an 1835 Harvard University publication titled Harvardiana, although the practice of using middle names can be traced back through examining the history of their usage. English historian Stephen Wilson says that the usage of middle names likely came from the tradition of using two first names in medieval Italy. The custom of giving children two names became widely accepted across Europe during the following centuries, and by the late 1800s, middle names were frequently being used in the United States, especially with the upper class. When the implementation of official documents, like social security cards and enlistment forms for the military, began tracking citizens during the early 1900s, the acceptance of using middle names to distinguish family members from one another was utilized more often than not. According to The Atlantic, "by the late 1970s, 75% of Americans had middle names". In the southern United States, people are more prone to using their middle names as their first names, more so than the remaining areas of the country. In China, Japan and Korea, their usage of names don't have a connection to the way middle names are used in the United States.