My mother was "Baby Lincoln" for six months and, apparently, was the only one of eight with such a lengthy Baby period. The story I always heard was that it was caused by a battle over what her name would be...and for whom she would be named. She ended up Lydea (G-Gma) and Rebecca (Gma) ... and she often wished for a "prettier" name too. As an aside, I've found "using the middle name" to run in families too. It is quite common on my father's side, rare on my mother's. In addition, my father's side tended to have nicknames that had nothing to do with the real name. For example he was Bob...but called Tom often. I was called Suzie by his side of the family. Kristy