system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:How middle names came about.
gpt
In most cultures, names are for

A) Identifying an individual

and

B) Identifying the individual's lineage.

So for example, in Pakistan, a person called "Mohammad Adil Abbasi " is generally so named because

- his father's name was Muhammad

- his name is Adil

- he is from the "Abbasi" family or tribe

so it's kinda your own identifier.