“Danger is my middle name”

A pair of real-life “Danger is my middle name” babies have been featured in the news lately:

  • Rafferty Basil Danger Wills, born in January to Felicity and Sam Wills of England.
  • Stephen Danger James, born in January to Telita and Dean James of Australia.

But these aren’t the first dangerously named babies to make headlines. Here are some earlier examples:

  • Nash Edward Danger Gray, born in 2011 to Jon and Ruth Gray of Nevada.
  • Bodhi Danger Huxhagen, born in 2011 to Rowan and Belinda Huxhagen of Australia.
  • Billie Danger Lampard (girl) and Ridley Danger Lampard (boy), twins, born in 2010 to Amy and Glenn Lampard of Australia.
  • Radley Danger Chapple, born circa 2008 to Peppa and John Chapple (photographer) of California.
  • Maxwell Danger Rogers, born in 2006 to Chloe Maxwell and Mat Rogers (athlete) of Australia.
  • Broderick Danger Scott, born in 2006 to Sarah Wilner and Kevin Scott of California.
  • Jakob Danger Armstrong, born in 1998 to Adrienne and Billie Joe Armstrong (musician) of California.

And I’ve come across a few other examples that never made the news.

So, just how common is the middle name Danger?

The SSA doesn’t publish middle name data, so there’s no official set of numbers we can look at. Fellow baby name blogger Laura Wattenberg claimed last year that Danger was a “really popular middle name for boys right now.” I disagree — Danger is still uncommon/bizarre enough to be newsworthy, after all — but it does look like Danger has been picking up steam lately.

Would you ever consider (I mean seriously consider) giving your baby the middle name Danger?

P.S. There’s a guy in Florida named Danger Dangervil.

P.P.S. Danger is also being used as a first name these days.

Sources: Billie and Ridley Lampard given ‘Danger’ as middle name, Danger is his middle name, Danger is my middle name…no really, it is, Developer suing ‘Baywatch’ star, Real parents can give their children weird baby names just like the celebs, The boy with danger as a name, The new year brings first local baby, What’s in a (middle) name? Simple or creative, the choice challenges parents

Image: Adapted from Danger sign at 38th & Blake Station by Xnatedawgx under CC BY-SA 4.0.

18 thoughts on ““Danger is my middle name”

  1. Of course not! Is there something I’m missing here? Some other association with the word/name “Danger”? Or is this just attention-getting behavior on the part of the parents at the expense of their infant? But then again, they’ll be raising him, so he may turn out to be the sort of boy/man who enjoys the reaction he’ll get — again and again — to his peculiar middle name.

  2. I have a coworker whose fourth child, first boy, is M@xon Danger John Lastname.

    Honestly? I prefer family names in the middle, but I think it’s funny and not that big of a deal. It’s not like it’s a first name.

  3. Here’s an interesting discussion if anyone is interested in where the phrase “Danger is my middle name” may have originated: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=523573

    I can see Kayt’s point that it might be “funny” to give a child “Danger” as his (or her) middle name, but any joke gets old/stale eventually and the baby is likely to outlive the humor in this one.

  4. I notice they mostly seem to be from California or Australia – is it that the middle name Danger is more common in these areas, or so uncommon that it is deemed newsworthy?

  5. I wouldn’t ever use Danger as a middle name. I think it’s ridiculous.

    I do have a cousin who has a son that’s about a year old that has Danger as his middle name.

  6. My oldest son has the middle name Danger. I loved it when I heard Billie Joe gave the name to his boy. We chose the name for our son because we want him to take risks in life, to live life to the full, to enjoy it, to keep his adrenaline pumping to really make the most of every opportunity he has and to make his own opportunity when necessary.

    I have a normal middle name. It’s plain and boring and I never use it. I wanted to give my children a name that can be fun, that they can show off if they want and if they end up with different tastes to us, well, like me, they can choose not to use it. Simple.

    Along the same train of thought, our second son has the middle name Venture :)

  7. My daughter’s middle name is Danger. And she’s a smart, kind, wonderful, delightful child.

    Eleanor of Aquataine’s grandmother was named Dangereuse de l’Isle Bouchard. So there’s some pretty impressive historical precedence.

  8. I was surprised to find this article as we named our first born son Blake Danger who was born in Australia in 2012 – my partner thought of it and loved it. “That’s the middle name if it’s a boy!” he’d say. He’d get so excited just thinking about it. “No way in hell” was my initial response but my partner would just get so excited about it and, well, I love my partner so Blake Danger it is. I especially had second thoughts when lodging his birth certificate but now I absolutely love it. And him. He’s a big, blonde haired blue eyed charismatic head turner, dangerously cute if anything. All my friends with young boys ask why they weren’t given a cool middle name like that. Even both sets of grandparents (all conservative baby boomers) have grown to love it. For once in my life, I couldn’t care less what people think. Life is short and people shouldn’t take things so seriously. How many middle names of your friends do you know anyhow?…. My point exactly :)

  9. My daughter’s middle name is Danger also. And I must say, she is also smart, funny, witty, kind and BEAUTIFUL. She’s four and has more class than most adults. We Love it and have instilled in her to be proud of her name. She will introduce herself as Leala Danger to new friends. Family and friends all love it but the most important part is that we have taught her to love it.

  10. My son’s name is Bret Danger Painter, and he goes by Danger. There are people who love it and people who hate it. My husband and I love it and I am thinking we are the only 2 that matter. With all of the weird names that people come up with now days, I don’t think he will have any problem in the future. Our family wasn’t to thrilled when we told them, but they have also grown to love it. After a while its just his name and I can’t ever see calling him anything else…

  11. I named my son Henry Danger. I’ve wanted to use Danger for a boy’s middle name for years now. Had no idea how popular it was becoming! So many people are calling him Danger because they think it’s super fun. I wouldn’t change it!

  12. We named our son ( born 2009) Hunter Danger Rohan Owers. Mostly everyone calls him Danger! Great name for a great kid!

  13. Yes, absolutely. In fact, my son’s middle name is Danger as well! :)

  14. We gave our daughter Danger as her middle name and I don’t regret it for a second. It was a personal decision of ours that makes me very happy every time I think of her name. It is whimsical and strong.Besides it is a middle name. She can decide when she is older whether she wants to disclose her name or not.

  15. My husband picked Danger as a middle name for our daughter in 2003. She was born outside of Detroit MI and it didn’t even raise an eyebrow.

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