to ask how what's the difference between a hyphenated and non-hyphenated double barrel name?

[doubledeckerbar]

DH and I plan to give our baby both our names when he/ she is born later this month. On a day to day basis, we are pretty sure we are only going to use one, though, which will probably be mine and which will be the second name of the two.

We are not sure about hyphenating, though. If we only plan to use mine on a regular basis, should we leave it out and just put down two separate names on the birth certificate? How does this usually work? Does double barrelling cause any kind of problems? Does anybody else have a DB name and care to share their experiences with me? Thanks

my dts have my name and their dads name. We didn't hyphen at the time of registering as we'd split up were never actually a proper couple and neither could agree which name the kids should have. I held out for my name as I have an elder child, and I wanted them to share a name. he has other dcs so the boys share a name with their brothers from another mother...

Practically speaking, it means they can decide which surname they want to use (at school they are both, and passport etc,) but at clubs or whatever that we do or they do at their dads they can use either. They want to use their dads name at high school, which I don't mind at all.

If you think the child could go into politics, and be on election forms, a) hyphenate b ) put the one nearest the beginning if the alphabet first. Voters tend to vote more for those up the list. Lack of hyphen risks the first name being lost.

So if you are going to have Jayden Torquil Male Alpha, make sure he is JT Alpha-Male. That way he will pick up more or lose fewer votes.

Ps, hyphens not posh. Very middle class, the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas. Were despised by the English aristocracy for being so bourgeois.

My ds has a both our surnames, non-hypenated. It hasn't caused any problems in officialdom or on any computer systems. Even the creaky IT system in our local GP's office is able to cope fine. Regarding banking, he only has a junior ISA so far! but again no problems with the bank.

By the time your dc is applying for mortgages and needing credit checks, the necessary systems will be able to cope. I remember working in the online banking dept of a major bank years ago when surnames were limited in the database to 12 characters... Needless to say, that was daft and the system changed.

Informally, btw, both surnames get used most of the time. Occasionally, just the first surname is used, but it's by people who use the full form too at different times (almost like using just the first surname is a quick abbreviation).

Blu that's absolutely not true, both surnames are exactly that, surnames. They are in capitals on the birth certificates and everything. I checked it out very thoroughly

Ds first and last name is db. His last name was db as a compromise as he was defiantly not just having his dads name for a number or reason one being I could drop his name if I had to. So ds is mainly called tony smith instead of tony-Paul smith-jones ds also had a middle name
So his name is a mouthful if all names are needed

face. palm.

Just read back a bit.... We are so far from posh, we're practically aristocracy due to being all the way back round again

Yep, Blu, the Inferiorettes get filed under their first initial not their second.

Luckily, the possibility of being despised by the aristocracy doesn't worry me one jot.

My name is a pain in the arse because my first name is two words but not hyphenated, but my surname is 2 words and hyphenated.

Due to both of us wanting to keep our name when we married my husband and I are double barrelled. When he did the paper work he hyphenated it without asking me my preference. As his name is first (it sounded so much better than mine going first) I can't get away with just using my own name on it's own, which I probably could have done without the hyphen.

As others have mentioned, it does make life a little easier this way.

His name is two syllables and mine is one so it's not unwieldy.

Actually, thinking about it, I changed my name when we married. He dithered so had to do it afterwards more formally. So I could have dropped the hyphen. Bit late now after 12 years though.

We have a hyphenated DB surname. No problems except at the maximum for length of name on bank cards and school name labels. It has taken a bit of getting used to if I'm honest, but mostly I like both my and DH's name being included.

Tend to use first surname if shortening - eg I am a school helper and the children find my surname a bit long. So I am Mrs Two-Shoes but Mrs Two at school. I write Child T-S on eg wellies, homework. Our friends call us "the T-S's".

The French have no truck with parvenus being double barrelled. To show that you are not top drawer, if you link your and your DP's surnames, they make you put a = between the two names, rather than a hyphen. Clearly a very classless society, France.

ElQuintoConyo has a similar set up to me with my DS. He was born in a country which follows this rule; everyone has two non-hyphenated surnames, one from the father, one from the mother. I like it, but here in England it causes no end of problems so I have started to hyphenate it, or people just assume his first surname is just a second middle name.

For example, say DS is called Marmite Tastes Like Heaven, people assume Like is just a middle name, when in fact it is his first surname.

When I were a lass a double barrelled surname was a sign of being posh. Now it means that your parents aren't married. How times have changed.

(Not that I'm saying there is anything wrong with unmarried parents for one second you understand, but when I was little it was something to be muttered about, living over the brush).

It doesn't mean your parents are unmarried Pipbin. As this thread has already established, there's a variety of reasons why people have double barrelled names.

Both my DC have got my maiden name as their middle name, then DP's surname.

When I got married, I took DP's surname, but also kept my maiden name as a middle name.

Of course a hyphenated or db name doesn't mean you are not married.

If I got married (which I won't) I would either keep my name and DP keep his, or we both db. Whatever we did, we would both do the same thing.

This thread is perfect as I'm getting married in a few months and my h2b and I are both changing our surnames to a double barrel of mine and his. My surname could be used as a male forename so I want to hyphenate as I feel it will turn into a middle name. My OH prefers the Spanish style without hyphens, mainly coz he is wondering what will happen when our kids marry if they do the same. Will then end up with3 surnames, and so on down the generations. My view is they can figure that out, I have no problem with them using his and dropping mine or whatever they choose, but as we are both having the same shared name I don't want mine to be dropped off.

Whatever you do dont do what I did, which is give the kids 3 forenames and a double barrelled surname. Plays merry fucking hell with forms!

We havent hyphonated btw, but use both as our surname.

Aren't there French aristocrats with multi-barreled names, and wasn't there a suggestion to give such people the option of writing their names in official documents with an asterisk instead of all the names?

Aren't there French aristocrats with multi-barreled names, and wasn't there a suggestion to give such people the option of writing their names in official documents with an asterisk instead of all the names?

DS, with a 5 syllable surname has no middle name.

We didn't really see the need for a middle name, if he doesn't like his first name he can just use another name.

It depends whether you actually want to use bit names or whether you want to give a nod to the child having their mother's name while intending to give the father's name all along. Like the people who claim to have solved the "problem" by using the mother's name as a middle name.

They are all just using the father's name as the default. If you genuinely want. Use both names, then hyphenate. My children each have three first names and a hyphenated second name. Never caused any but the most minor and trivial of problems (I don't name my children for the convenience of form designers!)

Mine have middle names, to add to their surname torment. No point in doing things by halves