Can You Guess the Middle Name of Every U.S. President?
JFK, Harry S. Truman, George W. Bush… sure you know their monograms, but do you know the full names of every president?
George Washington
Middle Name: None
That’s right, the most famous U.S. president in history had no middle name. In fact, it was actually quite rare for children to be given middle names when Washington was born in 1732. Learn more about the history of middle names.
John Adams
Middle Name: None
Born in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1935 to John Adams Sr. and Susanna Boylston Adams, John Adams, our second U.S. president—like our first—had no middle name. John Adams was our nation’s first vice president, and the first president to live in the White House. Check out these 22 surprising presidential firsts you never knew about.
Thomas Jefferson
Middle Name: None
Like his predecessors, Thomas Jefferson did not have a middle name, but two of his nine siblings did: Peter Field and Anna Scott. It’s believed that Anna’s middle name was in honor of Jefferson’s mother’s sister, Anna Randolph, whose married name was Scott.
James Madison
Middle Name: None
Having been born in 1751, James Madison, not surprisingly, had no middle name. But did you know that Mr. Madison, our fourth president, is the one who made up the word “squatter”? Here are more words and phrases that were coined by U.S. presidents.
James Monroe
Middle Name: Spence
Born in 1758, James Monroe was elected the fifth president of the United States in 1817. By then, middle names were becoming a “thing,” and all of Monroe’s three children had them (Eliza Kortright Monroe, James Spence Monroe, and Maria Hester Monroe).
John Adams
Middle Name: Quincy
The sixth president of the United States, John Adams, was the eldest son of the second president, John Adams. He was given his middle name in honor of his maternal great-grandfather, John Quincy. To further distinguish himself from his father, John Quincy Adams referred to himself as “JQA.” Don’t miss these 52 astonishing facts you never knew about the U.S. presidents.
Andrew Jackson
Middle Name: None
Named for his father, Andrew Jackson Sr., who died in an accident just three weeks before his birth in 1767, Andrew Jackson did not have a middle name. The major general did have the nickname, “Old Hickory,” given to him by his troops during the War of 1812 because he was said to be “as tough as old hickory wood” on the battlefield. Find out how every U.S. state got its nickname.
Martin Van Buren
Middle Name: None
Born in 1782, Van Buren’s, baptismal name was “Maarten van Buren,” which is the Dutch spelling of the name. Van Buren was the first president to have been born in New York State. Check out the funniest joke ever told by Martin Van Buren, as well as 22 other humorous presidents.
William Harrison
Middle Name: Henry
Our ninth president was named for his maternal grandfather, William (last name: Bassett) and for his paternal uncle, Henry (last name: Harrison). Born in 1773, William Henry Harrison was only the second president to have had a middle name. He was the first, however, to die in office, which he did in 1841, barely a month after his inauguration, at which it’s believed he caught pneumonia after giving a really long speech in the pouring rain.
John Tyler
Middle Name: None
Born in 1790, John Tyler, who will be remembered as the first vice president to become president due to the death of his predecessor (Harrison), had no middle name. Tyler was sworn in as the 10th president of the United States in 1841. As of 2020 Tyler, who died in 1862, still had living grandchildren. Check out these other time-warping facts.