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Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Baby names

hyphenated first name?

62 replies

ditsydoll · 27/02/2013 08:41

DH and I have decided on Ella Rose (surname) ,however I actually prefer the name when it's hyphenated so her first name would be Ella-Rose.

Has anyone hyphenated their children's first name?

OP posts:

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noblegiraffe · 27/02/2013 08:49

A couple of girls I teach have hyphenated first names (secondary). Both get called by just the first name. Two first names is just too much of a faff.

ditsydoll · 27/02/2013 08:57

I don't really mind if she shortens it as she gets older as if we chose not to hyphenate it would just be Ella anyway but I do love it with the hyphen.

OP posts:

mmmmsleep · 27/02/2013 08:57

Don't do it!!!!!
She will forever be called by either first or the second name. It will confuse all who meet her and make bank/card etc applications a nightmare as have to be redone when people miss off hyphen. And she will just get pissed off with having drs/nurses etc call her by the first name not her actual name.

I speak from experience:(

sooperdooper · 27/02/2013 09:42

I have a hyphenated name and it doesn't bother me in the slightest that some people call me my full name and some use just the first part, it's never caused confusion or irritation at all

Snazzynewyear · 27/02/2013 09:46

You can still actually call her 'Ella Rose' when you speak to her if you want. The hyphen will be an annoyance.

almostanotherday · 27/02/2013 09:59

Yes I have

rockinhippy · 27/02/2013 10:19

What about EllaRose ??

My own DDs name is written in a similar way & its more easily accepted as her first name, rather than first & middle, she still goes by the first half of it most of the time though, but that's her choice, but she loves that her full name is unusual & is very proud using it when first meeting people, make sure its written on performance lists etc etc

Good luck

MolotovCocktail · 27/02/2013 10:25

Ella-Rose is stunning. What a truly beautiful name, OP.

Hyphenated names really divide opinion on MN; they're really Marmite. If you are planning to call her 'Ella Rose' it makes sense to have the hyphen. It doesn't matter if it's sometimes dropped to 'Ella', that's just a shortened version of her full name anyway, IYSWIM.

In my opinion, EllaRose doesn't look right. It should be Ella Rose, or Ella-Rose.

I know a family with an Amelia Rose. They had toyed with naming her Amelia-Rose, but didn't because they thought it was "pretentious". Amelia Rose is 8yo now and the parents INSIST that 'Amelia Rose' is written on everything. They've told me that they regret not hyphenating her name.

orangepudding · 27/02/2013 10:29

I really can't stand hyphenated names.

Not heard of sticking two named together like EllaRose, that's even worse.

Ella Rose is just perfect!

noisytoys · 27/02/2013 10:30

Hyphenated first names are more common now. Half of DDs reception class is firstname-May

rockinhippy · 27/02/2013 10:31

In your opinion orange which matter because...

ScentedNappyHag · 27/02/2013 10:34

I have a hyphenated first name, it's never bothered me or caused any irritation
I'm always referred to by the first part unless I'm in trouble though, then the whole thing gets used

willyoulistentome · 27/02/2013 10:35

mmmmsleep I agree with you - also from bitter experience!!! Everyone will just remember it's "something-hyphenated". I get called all sorts of potentially hyphenatable combinations of nothing like my name. My fave is Sarah-Jane - yes it's hyphenated, but I have neither a Sarah nor a Jane in my name!!!

orangepudding · 27/02/2013 10:35

My opinion doesn't matter at all rockin. People give me a look when I tell them one of my children's names as its so out of odds with the others but we love it so don't worry about others opinions!

drownangels · 27/02/2013 10:38

In your opinion orange which matter because...

Because this is a forum where everybody offers opinions maybe?

HenD19 · 27/02/2013 10:40

I like Ella Rose and you could call her both as suggested. I would think carefully about the hyphen. Our DD is Ellie-Mae. I still love her name but it does cause loads of problems. Admittedly the Mae spelling doesn't help. If you go for the hyphen get used to telling everyone about it and be prepared for it to take her ages to be able to write her name. Some people call her Ellie when they first meet her but they soon realise she's Ellie-Mae especially as she often tells them. She'll probably be an Ellie when she's older as I teach at a girls secondary school and nearly all of them abbreviate their names.

badtime · 27/02/2013 10:41

I don't think there is any benefit to be gained by putting 'Ella-Rose' on the birth certificate. You can still call her 'Ella Rose', and even use the hyphen day-to-day, if you must.

People will probably mostly call her Ella either way.

I admit, I don't like hyphenated names in general. I think they are pointless, unless the point is just to give a child a name that is simultaneously popular and unusual. (106 "Ella-Rose"s in 2011, btw).

MolotovCocktail · 27/02/2013 10:45

I think to say hyphens are "pointless" is a bit harsh, or that the only point of them is to make a name "popular and unusual". That's a quite a utilitarian way of looking at naming. What if one just likes the look and sound of the names combined?

MiaowTheCat · 27/02/2013 10:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

willyoulistentome · 27/02/2013 10:48

It embarrsed the hell out of me when I was presented with my cycling proficiency test cert at the local town hall when I was at school. I had spelled my name for the copper who did the tests. In the TOWN HALL in front of a shed load of people he read out my name .." Sarah HYPHEN Jane.

Brought the place down, but I was mortified and I bloody hope my parents were too.

MolotovCocktail · 27/02/2013 10:53

willyou I think your tale is more of an indictment upon the copper who read "hyphen" as part of Sarah-Jane!

willyoulistentome · 27/02/2013 10:57

Yeah - It was uncalled for. It was in the 70s. Different age - I like to think it wouldn't happen now. I wonder how that particular, probably long dead, copper would cope with all the Polish names we have in our school now!!

Ella Rose is lovely by the way OP!

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drownangels · 27/02/2013 11:55

probably long dead, copper You what?!

My dad was a copper in the 60's and is alive and well and having a lot of fun!

willyoulistentome · 27/02/2013 12:24

Well he was an old copper in the seventies. Much older than my Dad was, and my Dad's dead!

VinegarDrinker · 27/02/2013 12:30

I have a hyphenated (virtually unique) first name. Bit of a PITA sometimes but everyone calls me both, I don't recognise the first half as "my" name at all.

Amusingly according to MN hyphenated names are either dead common or dead posh.

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