to think that double barrelled surnames are chavvy?

[prudencesmom]

It used to be the case that double barrelled surnames where only for the gentry, now every Tom, Dick and Chavvy have them. What has happened?

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Is that what it meant LaQueen?

Not saying it's not true,but given the stigma attached to illegitimacy historically speaking,it seems a rather *ostentatious naming process? People didn't tend to shout about being illegitimate.

• I don't think double barrelled names are ostentatious.

[JojoLapin]

Chavvy is such an ugly word. My autocorrect prefers Chivvy... So do I. Now tell me OP, my first name is double barrelled. Does it make me a Dick or a Tom?

[cory]

I've got one for the terribly chavvy reason that I'd already had my PhD thesis published under my maiden name and wanted to use that for career purposes, but needed an everyday name that could be pronounced in English. I don't mind being chavvy. Or even chivvy.

[JojoLapin]

Cory... You have a double barrelled name because of your PhD. You are such a chiv!! In fact I would go as far as Dick-Tom Chiv.

[PenguinBear]

YABU

[Shinyshoes1]

My children are double barelled.

We as the parents never married, I didn't want the children to just soley have his name.

so they are child shiny-mrshiny.

I'm far from chavvy

[squoosh]

Didn't know that back in Ye Olden Days double barrelling meant illegitimacy. I knew that Fitz surnames did.

[EdithWeston]

Double-barrelled seems positively tame, when you remember such aristocratic names as Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes or Plunkett-Ernle-Earle-Drax.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Fitz was a Anglo-Norman patronymic surname prefix. Like the Welsh ap it meant "son of".

Think a fair few Royals bestowed the Fitz prefix on their high born and acknowledged illegitimate children though, Henry VIII definitely did.

But FitzX doesn't always mean the original origins of the family were illegitimate.

[ImperialStateKnickers]

I met that Sir Ranulph Twistleton-Wykeham-Fiennes once.

He introduced himself as Ranulph Fiennes.

In fact out of all the aristocratic titled lot, only one has ever insisted on being called My Lord.

[prudencesmom]

Imperial you must tell who??
Was it Sir Hugh Of Grant perchance??

[sarflondongal99]

You are confused OP. double barrelled first names are - Lilly-sue, Hollie-Mae etc. double barrelled surname are not. Glad we have that sorted. Move along.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Imperial - is it "call me Sir" Ben Kingsley?

[OwedToAutumn]

I know a family where a man had married a single mum. The mother had given her surname to her DD. When they married and had another child, they wanted them all to have the same name, so the man took his wife's name.

[squoosh]

That's interesting Alisvolatpropiis. I must get the phone book out and apologise to the thousands of Fitzs that I've accused of being born on the wrong side of the sheet!

[Alisvolatpropiis]

squoosh I only know that because someone I worked with was a Fitz and told me. Had you been upsetting them beforehand?

[wewereherefirst]

I know a family like that too OwedTo.

My sister has a double barrelled surname, it's traditional for her heritage (non-uk father), so its not chavvy at all.

My surname would have been ridiculous had I double barrelled it with DH's, seriously rip-the-piss-out-of-it ridiculous. So I chose his plain boring name to not be a Chav

[squoosh]

Not out loud, but I probably assumed that somewhere in their heritage was a dashing but caddish aristocrat who scattered his seed and his name and took off into the night!

[dementedma]

If dh and I had double-barelled we would have sounded like an IRA terrorist cell - an Irish Bader-Meinhof gang. So I took his name and have spent 25 years spelling the sodding thing. Would love to start using my maiden name again.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

"Scattering his seed"

[ImperialStateKnickers]

Prudence and Alis no, neither of them.. haven't met either of them, but know someone who's worked with both (she's a make-up artist). Hugh is okay, v. professional, whereas Sir Ben Bloody Kingsley, dear god what a prima donna!

The Earl of Cardigan was the official twonk, go into the DM website for more info on his twonkiness if you have the stomach for the place