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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be confused. Can we use a / in a name?

97 replies

shouldhestay · 19/03/2022 19:58

Often people double barrel a surname with a hyphen.
Is there any reason why a slash can't be used?
So say my name was Lucy and my Husband had the surname Baron and I had the surname Jones, could I not be 'Lucy Baron/Jones' ?
I'm thinking that for the kids school I am Lucy Baron, but for my bank accounts I have remained Lucy Jones.
I am just filling in a new form and always trip up when completing my name. Is there such a thing as having a slash in a name? Like could I be Lucy Baron/Jones instead of Lucy Baron-Jones?

OP posts:
RebeccaCloud9 · 19/03/2022 21:39

Why are so many people saying 'you can't do that, it means or'. Yes, that's what op wants!

Both my mum and a good friend go by their maiden names at work and married names on passport/school correspondence. / Would be a great option! Would also have been useful for me when filling in my dd's passport application recently - I had to give my official name but this is different to my passport. Would have saved a lot of hassle of I could have put maiden/married.

itisyourbirthdayKelly · 19/03/2022 21:39

Shit, I explained that badly, i’ve had a few Blush

IvorCutler · 19/03/2022 21:40

It’s a bit strange?

I have a double-barrelled name, no hyphen. I often do just go by my married name to save hassle but for official documents I use both.

7eleven · 19/03/2022 21:41

You might be better off putting the extra info in a bracket or Lucy Baron (Jones) along with an explanation to the school.

SarahAndQuack · 19/03/2022 21:42

@shouldhestay

I was filling in a secondary school registration form for my daughter. At her primary school I am Mrs Baron (same surname as her and my husband) but at work I'm Lucy Jones so I was thinking that in an emergency, if school were to ring work, and ask for Mrs Baron, know one would recognise that name. I was thinking it might be useful to know that I go by the names Lucy Baron / Jones. I.e. Lucy Baron and or Lucy Jones.
Oh, in that case, definitely just write them a note to say this! DP and I have this - DD's name is double-barrelled but when she started school we were both in the process of changing names and we just wrote to explain that our work places would know us by x name. It's really practical.
spacehardware · 19/03/2022 21:42

I think if you put Lucy Baron/Jones people will think your name is Lucy Baron Jones, not that you sometimes use one or the other

I applied for a new job recently and put Lucy Baron (Jones)

Blossom64265 · 19/03/2022 21:44

DH and I use a / informally as we kept our names. When we need to write down a family name we use the / instead of a -.

Blimpop · 19/03/2022 21:48

I understand what you're trying to do and it does make sense. I just think you might have more of a ball ache than you do now.

Think I'd write Lucy baron aka Lucy Jones. It explains it fully

PeopleRStrange · 19/03/2022 21:49

Guaranteed to break a lot of computer system which will either not accept a / or throw errors when trying to process your data

Cocomarine · 19/03/2022 21:51

If it’s just about school, then just ask them if they can enter both names in any way that suits their system.
Otherwise - just pick a name and stick to it! 🤣

TristesseDurera · 19/03/2022 21:54

@SarahAndQuack

You still have to be unbelievably sheltered to imagine your name is unique!Imagine it. 'I bet I'm the only John Michael Smith born in 1976 in the world! I'm so special!

I am the only person in world with my name (first and surname). I'm neither unbelievably sheltered nor do I think it makes me "so special". It just happens to be true. There are only 12 people in the world who share my surname, and none of them have the same first name as me.

We're not all called Jane Smith.

BoldMove · 19/03/2022 21:58

I wonder how Prince managed when he changed his name? Sorry not contributing anything useful whatsoever! 😂 I remember someone I used to work with years ago just used a nickname on everthing, just one word, was a shortened version of her surname eg Smithy. Used at her bank too and just signed Smithy. I sometimes wonder if she still does it.

MmeMeursault · 19/03/2022 21:59

Don't do it. I have both a hyphen and an apostrophe in my official proper surname (passport and everything) and yet so many name boxes in online forms say that my name is "illegal" and I have to remove one or both of them to proceed to checkout or next page or whatever. So fucking offensive to be told your actual name is illegal just because a computer can't cope with it...

SarahAndQuack · 19/03/2022 21:59

[quote TristesseDurera]@SarahAndQuack

You still have to be unbelievably sheltered to imagine your name is unique!Imagine it. 'I bet I'm the only John Michael Smith born in 1976 in the world! I'm so special!

I am the only person in world with my name (first and surname). I'm neither unbelievably sheltered nor do I think it makes me "so special". It just happens to be true. There are only 12 people in the world who share my surname, and none of them have the same first name as me.

We're not all called Jane Smith.[/quote]
Confused What's your point?

Obviously there exist people whose names are unique. My name is pretty unusual; I don't know if it's unique but it's possible it is.

But my response was to a poster claiming that everyone has to have a unique name. That is demonstrable absolute nonsense, and even the existence of one duplicate name would prove it.

Wingingitsince2018 · 19/03/2022 22:03

@HairyScaryMonster

It needs to be your actual given name. What's on your birth certificate or marriage certificate as that would take over.
My marriage certificate doesn't say anything about what name I will be known as once married. Just Person A has married Person B.

I haven't changed my passport, driving license, bank accounts etc, but my GP, dentist and everyone else uses my married name. Only once had to produce a marriage certificate and that was when purchasing a house.

When registering DS and DD birth, it says my married name aka maiden name on their birth certificates.

OP, I agree that you should be able to do this but unfortunately the / would be a nightmare for computers to process as others have mentioned.

DyingForACuppa · 19/03/2022 22:07

Just joining in the 'using maiden name sometimes and married name other times' gang. Completely legal to do this in England, though banks etc always want you to use one name.

butterpuffed · 19/03/2022 22:14

When you fill in the form, why not just put Lucy Baron/Lucy Jones so they know you're known by both surnames.

ChessMaster3000 · 19/03/2022 22:16

Working in IT this gives me the shudders. I've spent so many hours of my life having to change systems to account for the one person who decides to so something like this with their name. I don't really get the problem, I just go my my maiden name (or, as I like to call it, my name. Given that it's the only name I've ever had). And then school etc. call me my husband's name anyway.

DyingForACuppa · 19/03/2022 22:18

On the subject of names not being unique, when I was at university I shared a house with a guy called something like David Alan Moor, and in the next house another student with the exact same name and date of birth moved in, so e.g. we were at number 17 and he was at 19. This led to someone at the GP deciding they were the same person with a typo in the address and their medical records ended up being combined and it was a complete mess to sort out!

Neome · 19/03/2022 22:24

Isn’t this the exact definition of ‘Also Known As’ or AKA

Lucy Baron (known professionally as Lucy Jones)
Lucy Baron (aka Jones)

SarahAndQuack · 19/03/2022 22:27

@DyingForACuppa

On the subject of names not being unique, when I was at university I shared a house with a guy called something like David Alan Moor, and in the next house another student with the exact same name and date of birth moved in, so e.g. we were at number 17 and he was at 19. This led to someone at the GP deciding they were the same person with a typo in the address and their medical records ended up being combined and it was a complete mess to sort out!
Wow!

I thought my dad had it hard - he also has a very generic name (which, despite being generic, I won't share!), and recently the bank chased him for someone else's debt. They were very apologetic when he demonstrated it definitely wasn't him, but they still keep getting them confused and he keeps having to send 'no, still not me' letters. Hmm

Before I changed my name I used to get hate mail for a Tory MP. I am not her, nor were our names identical (one letter different). That was annoying.

Taswama · 19/03/2022 22:29

Unless you are a surgeon or something where you can't have your phone with you, wouldn't you just give school your mobile number to ring?

I spent all of the primary years being called Mrs Hisname, despite the paperwork having my actual name on it, so I wouldn't assume anyone is going to read any actual notes if they need to ring you, it will just be 'whats the phone number for Dora's mum?' .

KimikosNightmare · 19/03/2022 22:34

@HairyScaryMonster

It needs to be your actual given name. What's on your birth certificate or marriage certificate as that would take over.
Your name is what is on your birth certificate. Anyone in the UK is free at any time in their lives to change their name to anything they want as long it's not for fraudulent purposes. No one's name changes on getting married unless they want to change it - but it can be changed at any time.

There's no law saying children have to use the surname of either parent. Parents can pick a first name and a new surname.

TyrannosaurusRights · 19/03/2022 22:36

You can have a legal alias on a British passport.

So my passport is my name married name
Legal alias my name maiden name.

EdithRea · 19/03/2022 22:37

No.
Not even if you're Elon Musk.

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