People's names in several countries include one or more middle names, placed between the first given name and the surname.[1][2] In many such countries, this notion of middle name does not exist, and those names are considered as a second, third, etc. given name. In the United States and Canada there is usually only one middle name, often abbreviated by its possessor to the middle initial (e.g. James Ronald Smith becomes James R. Smith, which is usually standard for signatures) or omitted entirely in everyday use (e.g. just James Smith). In other English speaking countries people will have more than one given name, although they are usually known by one only. In some other countries, the term middle name is only used for names that are originally last names, but not part of the last name of the bearer (for instance one can have one's mother's maiden name as a middle name).