What was Jackie Robinson's middle name?

Jackie Robinson’s middle name was Roosevelt.

His full birth name was Jack Roosevelt Robinson, though he became famous almost universally as Jackie. His mother, Mallie Robinson, gave him the middle name in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, the former U.S. president and progressive reformer. Theodore Roosevelt died on January 6, 1919, less than a month before Jackie was born on January 31.

The name is sometimes confused with Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was president when Robinson entered professional baseball. The namesake, however, was Theodore Roosevelt, whose presidency ran from 1901 to 1909. Robinson’s given name also occasionally appears as “Jack,” but “Jack Roosevelt Robinson” is the formal name used in biographies and historical records.

That middle name sits alongside a remarkable early life. Born in Cairo, Georgia, Robinson was raised in Pasadena, California, and became a standout four-sport athlete at UCLA. He later broke Major League Baseball’s modern color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.