Middle names for a first name

Middle Names for Lincoln

75 middle names for a first name with a hard K in its belly and a soft -n at its end — a combination that rules out half the boys' names currently in fashion, all of which finish on that same weak syllable.

Lincoln Theodore

•• •••

What Lincoln needs from a middle name

Lincoln is a place before it is a person: the English city, from the Brittonic lindo, "pool," plus Latin colonia — the Roman garrison town of Lindum Colonia. It became a surname, and in America it became a first name entirely because of Abraham Lincoln. That history is worth holding onto, because it explains the two forces a middle name has to manage. Lincoln is a surname in shape and a monument in association.

Mechanically it is LINK-un: stress hard on the first beat, a K cluster right through the centre, then a second syllable that trails away on a nasal. So the name is simultaneously percussive and soft-landing. Most parents choose it for the percussion and then pick a middle that repeats the soft landing, which is why so many Lincolns end up with names that sound like two halves of the same word.

• Do not land on -n again. This is the trap, and the entire fashionable cohort is in it: Lincoln Mason, Lincoln Hudson, Lincoln Jackson, Lincoln Weston, Lincoln Grayson, Lincoln Nolan. N starts are just as bad, since Lincoln Noah and Lincoln Nathaniel run the two nasals together with no gap.
• One hard K is enough. Lincoln already has the sharpest consonant in English sitting in its middle. Lincoln Cole, Lincoln Beckett, Lincoln Knox and Lincoln Cash all fire it twice in four beats. Softer openings — TH, J, G, W, R — give the ear somewhere different to go.
• Answer a surname with a first name. Lincoln reads as a surname, so a second surname-style middle turns the whole thing into a firm: Lincoln Parker Brooks. Given names restore the balance — Lincoln James, Lincoln Samuel, Lincoln Theodore — and one or three beats beats another flat two.

Top ten, annotated

• Lincoln Theodore — the benchmark: TH seam, three warm beats, presidential twice over
• Lincoln James — one beat, hard J, ends on a bright S
• Lincoln Gabriel — liquid sounds soften the K without going limp
• Lincoln Thomas — the plainest pick here, and it never dates
• Lincoln Samuel — three beats, no repeated consonant anywhere
• Lincoln Rhys — Welsh, single beat, sharp S finish
• Lincoln Wade — W is the softest useful start after the N
• Lincoln Jude — short, unfussy, and shares nothing with Lincoln
• Lincoln Matthias — the rare long option; stress lands on the middle beat
• Lincoln Gray — modern and blunt; the open vowel finishes the name

The runners-up mostly lose on the ending. Lincoln Everett is the closest miss: it is a beautiful name, but the E start lets Lincoln's N slide forward so the pair sounds like "Lincol Neverett." Lincoln Bennett scans well and puts two hard T's in an already percussive name. Lincoln Cole is the single most common suggestion online and stacks a second K on the first. And Lincoln Douglas needs saying out loud once before anyone puts it on a birth certificate — in the United States it names the 1858 debates, not a child.

Classic

• Lincoln Charles
• Lincoln David
• Lincoln Joseph
• Lincoln Philip
• Lincoln Robert
• Lincoln George
• Lincoln Paul
• Lincoln Timothy
• Lincoln Gregory
• Lincoln Russell
• Lincoln Walter
• Lincoln Stewart
• Lincoln Wallace
• Lincoln Raymond
• Lincoln Lawrence

Modern & fresh

• Lincoln Wilder
• Lincoln Sawyer
• Lincoln Bodhi
• Lincoln River
• Lincoln Zephyr
• Lincoln True
• Lincoln Ridge
• Lincoln Wolfe
• Lincoln Sterling
• Lincoln Shepherd
• Lincoln Bellamy
• Lincoln Rafferty
• Lincoln Grady
• Lincoln Wesley
• Lincoln Bailey

The modern list is where the surname rule has to bend, since most fresh boys' middles are surnames themselves. Bend it deliberately: pick the ones that have travelled far enough to read as given names, like Wesley and River, or the ones with enough syllables to sound like a name rather than a letterhead, like Rafferty and Bellamy. What you want to avoid is two clipped, one-word surnames in a row — Lincoln Brooks and Lincoln Hayes are perfectly nice on their own and turn Lincoln into a partner at a law firm.

One-syllable (for long surnames)

• Lincoln Beau
• Lincoln Wells
• Lincoln Ross
• Lincoln Blaise
• Lincoln Tate
• Lincoln Shaw
• Lincoln Ford
• Lincoln Zane
• Lincoln Bruce
• Lincoln Scott
• Lincoln Drew
• Lincoln Hugh
• Lincoln Sage
• Lincoln Pierce
• Lincoln Reid

Try it against a long surname to see why this list exists. With a family name like Callahan, Lincoln Theodore Callahan runs to eight syllables and, worse, ends on a third unstressed -an: the name fades out three times in a row. Lincoln Tate Callahan is five syllables with a hard T holding the centre, and the surname arrives while the ear is still paying attention. If your surname ends in -on, -an or -en, treat this list as your first stop rather than your fallback.

Strong

• Lincoln Titus
• Lincoln Bruno
• Lincoln Marshall
• Lincoln Barrett
• Lincoln Hart
• Lincoln Steele
• Lincoln Bishop
• Lincoln Slate
• Lincoln Ryder
• Lincoln Thatcher
• Lincoln Fletcher
• Lincoln Judah
• Lincoln Boaz
• Lincoln Tobias
• Lincoln Wyatt

With one or two middle names

Lincoln is a good candidate for two middles, because families choosing it often have a name to honour and a name they simply like. Order them so the seam is protected: Lincoln James Everett puts the hard J against Lincoln's N and lets Everett, which cannot follow Lincoln directly, sit safely in third place.

The opposite order suits a longer honour name: Lincoln Theodore Hugh gives the tribute its full three beats and then stops the whole name dead on a single syllable. Whatever you choose, do not run two -n endings anywhere in the sequence — Lincoln Mason John still has the collision, it has just moved one slot along.

Keep browsing

Similar first names: Hudson, Grayson, Weston, Everett, Jackson. Or widen out: all boy middle names, strong style, classic style, the choosing guide.