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This morning something peaked my interest. MostHaitian people *In my circles* stating that most of them have middle names, but there was a noticeable amount of others stating that it's simply not a thing in their experience. Using 980 people, let's see what the data tells us
First I want to thank the countless people who DMd me their first-party data, their family members, siblings etc. To amplify my sample size, I mainly used Haitian Census Voting data, data I gathered from my Haitian Service Worker Research, Ancestry (dot) com, ect.
The population sample size looked like. I used *MY OWN* Category range to define these ranges.
Note: You don't need to agree with them
1- Working Class <500$
2- Lower Middle Class $3,000-$5,000
3- Middle Class $5,000-$10,000
4- Upper Middle Class $10,000-$20,000
5- Up: 25,000$+
Note: You don't need to agree with them
1- Working Class <500$
2- Lower Middle Class $3,000-$5,000
3- Middle Class $5,000-$10,000
4- Upper Middle Class $10,000-$20,000
5- Up: 25,000$+
There is a clear trend amongst middle class segments: For them, middle names ARE in fact common.
- 48.5% of middle-class folks in this sample DO have middle names
- Middle names are more common Upper middle class @ 60%
- 48.5% of middle-class folks in this sample DO have middle names
- Middle names are more common Upper middle class @ 60%
Let's look at the Working class, which accounts for the majority of the sample size (unsurprisingly: there is more proletariat than other classes). Middle names are far less common with less than 8% of folks actually having one
Other interesting findings: *BASED ON THIS SMALL SAMPLE SIZE* People with Middle names were had an 89% chance that their SIBLINGS ALSO had middle names. This suggests that traditionally, parents who give one kid a middle name is likely to give ALL of their kids Middle names.
And then parents who do NOT give a kid a middle name, is also likely to NOT give their other kids middle names as well. Let me be clear: this isn't to say that it does not happen, only that it's less likely.
Other very interesting findings: Haitians LOVE hyphenated names? lmao roughly 30% of the first names in this 980 sample size had hyphenated names (regardless of social-economical class segments)
BUT only 6% of people with hyphenated names had middle names. Which kinda makes sense? I guess I wouldn't want my kids to have too much of a long name either
Lastly, and this sample is so small that I almost want to say it's anecdotal, there were fewer baby boomers (parents) with middle names and More Millenial (their kids) with middle names.
My *personal* deduction is that generally middle-class parents (who have their own kids middle names) actually come from working-class and lower-middle-class upbringings, where their own parents would have not given them a middle name.
There is something to be said about how middle names come from being generally perceived as more sophisticated, coming from a social class that perhaps have had European influence, perhaps have more access to education
So why do we, myself included think that more people have middle names than they actually do? I think it has to do with our own biases lol. If you are a middle-class person with a middle name, you are more likely to know MORE people who are ALSO middle class.
Your family members direct relatives and extended ones are also likely to follow the same rituals/traditions when it comes to naming conventions so you would be more exposed to folks with middle names.
I think it's probably common from some folks in the Diaspora perhaps to not be acclimated to having middle names because more often than not, their parents left Haiti to escape poverty. This can explain why some of them have said that they do not have middle names either.
