What's in a Name?

I don’t know why it came up but I got into a discussion with my host family the other day about names. Much like in the States, most people here have three names. However, rather than having a first, middle, and last name they have a given name, father’s name, and surname. Given name and surname are clearly synonymous with first and last name, but the middle names of everyone here are almost always just the name of your father, regardless of whether you are a boy or a girl. I have always felt that I was missing something growing up without a middle name. I guess it never occurred to me to use Chelsea Todd.