What's in a name?

It took some getting used to - the concept of a middle name.
My own name being all mixed up with a theory of all first born and all male children being given grandfather's name as a prename, with the surname as an initial.
To add to the confusion, my uncle apparently wrote a really horrible name out with rice, on the namekaram day, without consulting my parents. (Those days, my dad probably saw me first on that day, and obviously they never prepared for or rehearsed this function!)
And my maternal grandparents decided to call me by another name of their choosing, before my dad set his foot down to name me something else.
I now answser to a half a dozen names and a dozen derivatives! (So much so, that my kids have to ask me "What is your real name?", as if I chose to fake mine).
In this scenario, it was my turn to put my foot down, when my in-laws wanted to name me something else!!
After moving here, I now share my first name with all my male cousins on my father's side (with my male cousins (brothers also) having the same first and last name with different middle initials!

So.. when my first born was born, all family assembled to perform the namakarana on an hour's notice. According to custom, my son was given multiple names.
Once one person started, others got enthused to add a name. My son essentially got 11 names or so, which we dutifully wrote with a ring dipped in honey, which my 11-day old son lapped up gleefully!
Anyway, the Birth Certificate had a first name and a last name according to local tradition.
The older one, now in pre-school, is asked by his teacher for his middle name, so that she could write out his certificate. He tells her : "Robin Hood".
His teacher, a wise older lady, is a littel suspicious and calls me at work to confirm. I then ramble on that, although he has 11 names, he does not have a middle name. My preschooler, learning of this, promises his teacher that when he came back from summer break, he would have a middle name.
When I pick him up that evening, he demands : "Give me a middle name, please (montessori training)"..
I talked it over with D and picked one name for each kid to serve as their middle name..
The very next day, I hauled myself up to the department of births to get their Birth Certificates. changed.
I had a hard time explaining to the woman at the counter, that I just needed to add a middle name, not change the father's name, or the last name.. It bothered me then that the girl could even think I came to change their last name..
What mothers do for their kids..
What's in a name after all! Aren't names just avatars? really! Put this way, my kids seem to finally understand!