Today’s prompt asks about your middle name and whether it carries any special meaning.
My middle name is Michael, but interestingly I wasn’t born with a middle name at all.
When I was born my parents simply named me Richard. That was it. No middle name attached to it.
The name Michael came later.
In the Catholic Church, when you receive the sacrament of Confirmation, you choose the name of a saint to take as your Confirmation name. I was just a kid when that happened, but I remember being told to pick a saint whose life or meaning you respected.
I chose Michael.
Saint Michael the Archangel has always been one of the strongest figures in Christian tradition. In scripture he’s portrayed as the defender of heaven, the one who stands against evil and leads the heavenly armies. His name comes from the Hebrew Mikha’el, which translates to “Who is like God?”—not as a comparison, but as a reminder that no one is equal to God.
For a young kid, the idea of a powerful archangel who fought against evil sounded pretty impressive.
So from that point on, Michael became my middle name, even though it wasn’t something I was given at birth. It became part of who I was.
Names are interesting that way. Sometimes they’re handed to you without much thought. Other times you choose them yourself, and that gives them a little more personal meaning.
In my case, Michael wasn’t just given to me.
It was the first name I ever chose for myself. ✨
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