middle name,一般是外国基督徒受洗后牧师起的名字，一般带有名字主人的个性特征或者显著特点。有时会用某一个长辈的名字以表达爱和纪念，有时会用一个名人的名字，表达希望有那个名人的个性，以那个名人为榜样。比如，美国前总统克林顿的全名是William Jefferson Clinton。大家常呼他的Bill（比尔)是William的昵称。中名Jefferson（据克林顿自己说）是为了纪念美国总统Thomas Jefferson。

　　那奥巴马的中间名是什么呢？又有怎样的特殊含义？

　　Barack Obama once joked he got his middle name - Hussein - from someone who obviously didn't think he'd ever run for president. Still, he'll use it when he's sworn in, because, he says, it's tradition.

　　奥巴马曾经开玩笑说，给他起"侯赛因"这个中间名的人显然没有想到他有朝一日会竞选总统。而现在，他说，他还得在宣誓就职的时候用到这个中间名，因为这是传统。

　　Well, not exactly. 不过，这也不尽然。

　　Many presidents, like George Washington, had no middle name. And some who did didn't use it.

　　许多总统，像George Washington，就没有中间名。而那些有中间名的总统也并不都用中间名。

　　Ronald Wilson Reagan took the oath simply as Ronald Reagan. Richard Milhous Nixon used his middle name at his first inauguration, but dropped it at his second.

　　里根总统宣誓的时候没有用Ronald Wilson Reagan，只是用了Ronald Reagan。尼克松总统在第一次宣誓就职的时候用了他的中间名Milhous，而在连任宣誓的时候却没有用。

　　James Earl Carter was "Jimmy." But it was William Jefferson Clinton, not Bill. Gerald Rudolph Ford used his middle initial. And Stephen Grover Cleveland, Thomas Woodrow Wilson and John Calvin Coolidge dropped their first names.

　　卡特总统用了Jimmy这个名字，而没有用James Earl Carter。克林顿总统用了Bill，而非William Jefferson Clinton。福特总统用了他的中间名的首字母R。而克利夫兰总统、威尔逊总统和柯立芝总统甚至弃用了他们的名字，只用了姓氏。

　　Some didn't use their names at all, simply saying "I" solemnly swear, or just answering "I do" after the chief justice read the oath. And the record for the most names? George Herbert Walker Bush.

　　有些总统甚至根本不用名字，只是说"我"庄严宣誓，或是在大法官宣读誓言之后回答"我会"。那么谁是美国历史上名字最长的总统呢？是George Herbert Walker Bush。

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