If there’s one British names trend that Berries all over the world have embraced full-heartedly, it’s the old upper class practice of giving children two middle names.

　　Rooted in royalty as a way to honor a raft of vaulted relatives, the multiple-middle-name practice was pegged by one visitor to our pages as being “very posh and a bit snobby.”

　　But it’s also a way for name lovers to indulge their enthusiasm by using more of their favorites on fewer children.  Americans who give their babies two middle names are often simply packing more name power into one extended appellation.  They may also (as my husband and I were, when we named our daughter Rory Elizabeth Margaret) be adding extra middle names to honor both sides of the family at the same time.

　　Judging from the birth announcements in the London Telegraph, three-barreled British names are distinct in a couple of important ways:

　　Flow is not a factor

　　American baby namers often look for middle names that maximize “flow”: a progression of sounds and syllables that are pleasing to the ear.  For the Brits, what matters is to pick names with the right connections, flow be damned.  So a name that encompasses discordant styles like Nancy Honor Moone or moves at a two-two-two trot such as Hector Felix Horace is fine, given the relatives who are being honored.

　　Anything goes

　　We tend to think of the Brits as being relatively conventional, name-wise, using only traditional proper names such as Elizabeth and Charles.  But in practice and as evidenced by the examples that follow, a range of diverse choices can go into the multi-name mix: nicknames such as Annie and Willie, distinctly ethnic choices such as Bronislav and Ichihashi, and surnames such as Stenhouse and Coleridge.

　　Eccentricity reigns

　　Given the naming choices detailed above, the end result is often names that have an eccentric air, as if the three choices were picked at random from a baby naming bag.  But we think these names, rooted more in meaning and family than in an air-brushed ideal of style, can ultimately be more charming.

　　Now on to the real goodies: the real British baby names, 20 British girl names and 20 British boy names, from recent London Telegraph birth announcements.

Girl Middle Names

　　Annie Isabel Meredith

　　Antigone Clementine Millicent

　　Beatrice Beverley Kit

　　Cecilia Catherine Ida

　　Cressida Helena Christine

　　Elizabeth Flavia Mary Clifford

　　Honor Nancy Moone

　　Ilona Dawn Jean

　　India Jemima Alice

　　Indigo Rose Honor

　　Isla Rosie Ichihashi

　　Lucinda Veryan Stewart

　　Mina Victoria Ruby

　　Ophelia Elizabeth Princess

　　Orla Naomi Florence

　　Polly Martha Rosemary

　　Rose Virginie Finovola

　　Tallulah Diana Phina

　　Tilly Elizabeth Amelia

Middle Names for Boys

　　Auberon Samuel Bronislav

　　Bertie Pepys Willie

　　Digby Herbert Emery

　　Freddy Ian Kim

　　Hector Felix Horace

　　Henry Charles Allan William

　　Hugo Arpad Lucius

　　Humphrey Arthur Edward

　　Jasper John Dexter

　　Joash Simon Hector

　　Kit Hallifax Charles

　　Maximilian Cassius Stenhouse

　　Ned Benjamin Holland

　　Orlando Sebastian Rees

　　Otto Rupert Coleridge

　　Peregrine James Kingham

　　Rafe Harry Hassan

　　Ranulph Patrick Guy

　　Wilfred Piers John

　　This adorable birth announcement by Tiny Prints.