The Gubb: Woman Discovered With Middle Name For First Name.
Jane Sarah Kenny is one of the few UK women with a middle name for her first name.
First names are the names we value most. They’re the names we carry throughout our lives so it matters what those names are. In contrast, middle names are the poor relation. Emotional blackmail is often leveraged when naming offspring. No one in all seriousness decides to call their firstborn Derek but when it’s the name of your husband’s late, much-beloved father, what choice do you have? The only reasonable decision is to relegate that choice to the middle name position.
Jane Sarah Kenny is an anomaly. Her given name is regarded as being at the top of the charts in terms of middle name mediocrity. Anyone who names a child Sarah feels the social expectation to follow that forename with Jane. However, Jane’s parents chose to buck the trend: “They just really liked the name.” Ms Kenny adds: “I don’t even think we have a relation with that name so I have no idea what Mum and Dad were thinking.” Life has been tough to negotiate for Jane. Living with a bland name has meant she’s endured years of incorrect (and sometimes correct) assumptions about her character. Our sympathies go out to Jane and people called Louise, Ann(e), Derek, and Barry.