Recently, the Internet has literally replete with a variety of tests and quirky programs that allow you to "determine a middle name." Curious users appropriate names that are supposedly “suitable for them in spirit”, take the names of mythological characters as pseudonyms, and even translate their names into Japanese letters. However, the only "real" middle name that is given to a person and is registered in official documents is the name that is given to a person at baptism.
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Instruction manual
1
It is widely believed that the name given to a person during the sacrament of baptism is kept secret. However, this opinion is a misconception. This is nothing more than superstition connected with an erroneous view of the sacrament of baptism as a kind of mystical ritual that protects the baptized from dysfunction and the influence of "dark" magical forces. The name of a person at baptism is carried out, first of all, in a sign of the introduction of the person "into the church": the name "in the world" must correspond to the name "in the church". Moreover, the name “in the world” and the name “in the church” differ, as a rule, only if the name given to the person at birth and registered in the corresponding certificate is not in the calendar. In this case, a name close to “worldly” is chosen for the baptismal name. For example, the name "Pauline", which is not in the calendar, most often corresponds to the names "Pelageya" and "Apollinaria" that are present there. So, not everyone has a second name, other than the official one. However, in any case, the name assigned to a person at baptism is not a secret, but is pronounced publicly and registered in certain documents.
2
Thus, the first and easiest way to find out your real middle name is to ask the godparents who were directly present at your christening, or other your close relatives who may have this information.
3
The second way is to find a baptismal certificate that contains this information. A baptism certificate can be kept by both the immediate and the godparents of the baptized.
4
If the necessary information has been forgotten by relatives and the baptism certificate has been lost, you need to find the church where the baptism took place and go there for the metric lists stored there, which should contain data on all persons baptized in this church.