Double Barelled Names

[GinaFB]

My DP and I have discussed the possibility of a double barelled surname combining both our names for DC #1.

Has anyone else done this and if so what was the procedure? Can we just specify this on the Birth Cert?

Thanks for your imput!

[Fruitbatlings]

yes, just put it on the birth certificate.
It's soooo annoying though.
Having just got married, I now have the same double barrelled surname as my DC's. Every time I write my name, I'm cursing under my breath. Such a long winded name!
My Mother would be so disappointed if I didn't keep my maiden name and I wanted DH's name so it had to be double barrelled

[GinaFB]

Thanks Fruitbatlings!

We are not planning to get married much to my mothers horror! (also I can't stand his surname!) I wanted my DC to have both our names not just his as it just seemed to make sense!

[Fruitbatlings]

I'm just looking at it from my DC's point of view, they will hate having to write their long surname and have only just realised now I have it!

[DownyEmerald]

We used my surname as the middle name.

I really wanted my name in there but didn't want to do the double-barrelled thing.

Notice that both sets of gps have taken to writing it on envelopes as a double-barelled name tho!

Also not married - though plan to.

[mathanxiety]

Having the double barreled name, even if it's long, is a help if you're ever traveling with your child, and also in school bureaucracy situations. It will come in handy if you're not taking your DP's name for whatever reason. The db name is a link to both of you for your child, which is nice.

[GinaFB]

mathanxiety thats exactly why!

[birdofthenorth]

My lovely stepson has his dad's surname (my surname now too) and his mum's as a middle name. In think this is kinder in his case as double-barelling would have made a long surname that would have sounded odd together (ItalianName-VeryEnglishName). I think it does depend on how long each of your surnames are and whether they flow together.DSS has a normal middle name too before his mum's name as his second middle name.

On big advantage of double-barrelling however is that if you just give DC or DP's surname nursery and school staff etc sometimes fail to make the connection betweem you and your child. My DH's ex sometimes meets with confusion when she rings the school etc because her own name does not automatically give away which one her son is.

[posieparker]

I have a double barreled first name and surname, I loathe my MIL and so didn't want to be Mrs DH, but now I apologise for my name all of the time.

[cyteen]

We were going to double barrel our surnames for DS but when the time came we just couldn't do it to the poor boy (both are 3 syllables, lots of Ns and Ls). So he has DP's as a middle and mine as the surname.

DP and I are getting married next year but I'm not changing my name, it's way too cool!

[mathanxiety]

LOL, Posieparker, I think one of the reasons my ex MIL hates me so much is that I still have the same surname she does . And the name is one she worked long and hard to get her hands on, while I could blithely dump it any time I choose

[posieparker]

All my dcs have my surname as another middle name....

[CuppaTeaJanice]

DS has both surnames, but they aren't hyphenated. People sometimes assume the first surname is a middle name, but it hasn't caused much confusion really.

You just tell the registrar what names you want when you register the birth, it's not complicated.

[Squishabelle]

I really dont like all this double-barrelling. What will happen when the double-barrellers have children of their own - quadruple barrelling? Why dont people just choose one name and be done with it?

[NancyBotwin]

When my brother and SIL got married they double-barelled their surnames - I think partly because she had a dd from a previous relationship who had SIL's maiden name as her surname so they didn't want the dd to feel left out int the new family arrangement iyswim. They went on to have a ds and he also has the double-barelled name.... And the dd's boyfriend also has a double-barelled name.

All well and good but it was very funny at a recent family wedding when they couldn't find their names on the seating plan - turns out the software couldn't handle all the double-barelled names and ran out of space for their table!

[bellissima]

As long as the last surname used isn't Smith or Brown. Double barrelled Snotface-Smith or Poshtogs-Brown just looks like you thought good old fashioned Smith or Brown was too common. Height of net curtains pretentiousness. If one of your surnames is Smith or Brown put it first!

[motherof2boys]

The combining of surnames is really common at our school - but what happens when one parent alerady has doublebarrelled name (everyone ends up with different name..)

[GinaFB]

I think we're going to go for it.

Like you say it gives a connection to both parents which is useful all round I think! I want my DC to feel connected to both of us and not to ask "mummy why have I got only Daddy's name" when they are older!

[kittywise]

I'd like to know what is going to happen when all these kids with DB names get married to others with DB names. Will their kids have 4 surnames? When will it all end fgs?

[cyteen]

Ask the upper classes, they presumably do it all the time.

[thisxgirl]

"The combining of surnames is really common at our school - but what happens when one parent alerady has doublebarrelled name (everyone ends up with different name..)"

DP and I faced this. His surname is double-barelled and has been for many generations...although both parts of it are short (xxxx-xxxxx) it would have been ridiculous to stick another hyphen in there, even though my surname is also only six letters long. I gave DS my surname as a middle name, as it's also a forename anyway. I have to say it does bother me a little that, although it does have a mention, my surname is never used - not that I expected otherwise. It does feel strange having a son with a different surname to me.

I work at a register office and everybody I work with - being sort of jobworths - were quite horrified that I gave DS my DP's surname. It actually stressed me out a bit throughout my pregnancy. The registrars are always, always advising unmarried mothers against this - in case anything goes wrong in your relationship because you can never alter the birth certificate, and because there have been instances of mothers being questioned by authorities as to their relationship to their child because there isn't a shared surname. If I was married and then something went wrong in my relationship, we divorced and I went back to my maiden name, DS would have a different surname from mine anyway - so their argument seems a bit redundant.

[mathanxiety]

But whether or not the relationship works out, the child is still the child of the ex, still carries his DNA -- why not acknowledge this and honour the fact that the child is part you and part someone else, genetically? If you end up with two double barreled names, you can always pick two of them (maybe one from each) and go with that for the children. I know they do something like this in Spain with names, not exactly sure what, but there's a system.

[Divatheshopaholic]

just a thought, what happens when all names get double barrelled. then next generation will be all quattrod surnames and then next generation after will be.....