Quoting TheMadMartian:

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For years we have been told that the middle name concept is strictly a 'U.S.' thing and, because of that, it should be removed from Profiler.  I am, to say the least, a little surprised by this bit of news.

Well, it still doesn't really work out like in the US (I think). I'm talking about the PRV (our offical department for patents and name registrations) definition of last name and what the current naming laws say. You can for example by marriage add a second family name to your current family name. But then the new (or old) family name must become a middle name since by definition you can't have two last names. But there is no doubt that both are still family names in people's mind. And the official rules don't affect historical names. In reality there are plenty of family names that functions as double last names if you look around.

Then there is the second form of middle names, but they are regardless of their number all first names (förnamn in Swedish). Usually one of them functions as the "adressing" name but it doesn't have to be the first. My first names are Lars Erik Patrik given in that order but it's the third name that functions as my adressing name. Correct parsing of my name in Profiler should put all three first names in the first field, none in the middle and the family name in the last field. Not the way you would handle an American name I think, where you actually have true middle names that are not family names.

Quoting Alien Redrum:

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That is fascinating. It seems a bit archaic to have the government worry about people's last names.

Oh, they care about more than just the last names. And it's not just Sweden, here's an interesting CNN article on the topic:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/07/03/mf.baby.naming.laws/index.html

It may seem like too much big brother to many, but I'm inclined to agree with the spirit of it. If it protects a child from being named Adolf Hitler or Buttface or whatever some moronic parents come up with, then it's worth it.

Quoting Kathy:

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This is why I love this site - interesting people teaching me new things!

Yes I'm also always learning something new.

Just again asking if I did understand correkt:
- In Sweden and Norway there are no "double" familiar names? If a second familiar name is in the name it is a middle name?
- In the USA women can put their maiden name as middle name, remove it or have a "double" last name  after marriage?

More interesting reading here, but doesn't really explain the difference between a 2nd and 3rd given name to a middle name...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_name

In the UK, I had always assumed my 2nd name was my middle name. Most of my family is the same way. Of course, my oldest son has 2 middle names 

I would also say that the majority of family tree software only uses 2 entry boxes: First names and Surname. Only Profiler is forcing us to define a middle name (why?) 

Quoting VirusPil:

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Yes I'm also always learning something new.

Just again asking if I did understand correkt:
- In Sweden and Norway there are no "double" familiar names? If a second familiar name is in the name it is a middle name?
- In the USA women can put their maiden name as middle name, remove it or have a "double" last name  after marriage?

Can't speak for Sweden & Norway, but here in the USA you can do just about anything you want with your name.  For example, among my friends, we have (names abbreviated to protect the innocent):

Mrs. M. Erin M.  -> formerly Miss M. Erin B.  = she goes by her middle name, and eliminated her original family name completely upon her marriage.

Mrs. Katrina M. R. B. -> formerly Miss Katrina M. R. = she moved her original family name to the position of her second middle name.

Mrs. Patricia R-J & Mr. Chris R-J -> formerly Miss Patricia R. & Mr. Chris J. = they combined their last names with hyphens and use that as their combined last name.

Mrs. Sharon P. = the longest married of our group of friends (20 years!) she never took her husband's last name and still uses her original (maiden) name legally.

Mrs. Sandy Q. -> originally something else, but I didn't know her then, she still uses her ex-husband's last name because they have 4 kids together and she wanted to keep her last name the same as the kids.  (She is since re-married, at least as far as all of us are concerned, but she and her wife do not share a last name - and in fact her wife does not use her own legal name, but is so universally known by her nickname that Sandy blanked on her own wife's legal name at one point.)

On the flip side, my friend Christi returned to her maiden name after her divorce so she has a different last name from her 3 kids (she is R. while they are S.).

And myself -> Miss Genevieve Galadriel Elizabeth P. = I have two middle names (my mom was a hippie).  I was one of a very few people to have two middle names when I was growing up. 

I don't know what I'd do if I ever got married, I suppose it would depend upon what my spouse's last name was and how it sounded with all of that.    My mom never married my father, so I don't have his last name (and in fact that would be weird if I did, since I've never even met the man).  My grandmother went with the same option as my friend Erin, and simply dropped her original last name in favor of her husband's.  My grandfather was her fourth husband, so she was three names away from her original family name by the time she married him.

The first choice I listed - for the woman to drop her original family name and adopt her husband's, is the traditional choice.  Next to that as far as common use goes is the movement of the lady's original family name to the position of a middle name.  Hyphenating or not changing at all is a less common option, at least as far as the people of my acquaintance goes.