Advice about double-barrelled surnames please

[eggandbacon]

Hello, has anyone given their DCs have a double-barrelled surname? We are considering this and would like to know the potential issues/problems involved. For example, do people tend to miss out one of the names entirely and do you have to keep correcting them?

Also has anyone given their DC a double-barrelled surname with the intention of using just one part of it e.g. Smith-Jones on the birth certificate but just Smith for everyday use?

my 4 boys and my dd have a double barrelled surname, they are just given both tho sometimes one is shortened to just the first letter ie if our surname was brown-smith it would be b smith, oh and did have to correct the school when ds3 started as they only put the second surname on his name peg, i have no idea why as we already had 2 children at the school and they had their full names! so no havent had an issue at all other than my mil not liking it!

I think it can cause problems later in life if they want to marry do they tripple barrell the name? Does their partner take their double barrelled name.

On the other hand by the time they are that old, people will probaby be keeping their own names. But then what about their children if there are any?

Just marking my spot with interest.

We've double barelled dd's name. In all honesty I'm not that keen as my surname is long, as is her first name so I worry its a bit much. However me and dp aren't married, are in no rush to be married and I would probably keep my name in some form too anyway.

She's only 7 months at the moment so we will see what happens I suppose!

We double-barrelled our son's name because we were at that time unmarried and living abroad and we wanted the both of us to be able to travel with him without lots of questions/phone calls to the embassy.

We are now married and expecting our second.

I have kept my maiden name and we intend to give this child the double-barrelled name also as we don't want the boys to be "different". Should we move back to the UK I expect I will adopt my married name and the boys will drop one of theirs.

We are planning to marry before the birth of our baby in the spring, but as I think changing your name on marriage is a ridiculous throwback to the days when women were chattels, I will retain the name I have always had and our baby will have both our names.

My children have both surnames, non hyphenated. They use both. Should they have children of their own at some point, the decision is up them as how they deal with the surname issue - if it's the biggest decision they ever have to make, they'll be very lucky!

We gave DD both our surnames as we weren't married at the time - it seemed wrong to only give her one of our names.

We got married when she was 17m, had DS 10m later :o obviously he has both too. We use the double-barrelled name ourselves too, as was always the plan for various reasons. It's not totally official though as we haven't got around to doing deed poll yet.

We were lucky though - our surnames go together very well, the double barrelled name is only 3 syllables and rolls off the tongue nicely. Some of my friends have decided against using both because they didn't fit.

Oh and nobody has ever dropped half of the name. Double-barrels (why are they called that anyway? Like a gun or something ) are really common now so it's not really an issue.

Might be more likely if they're not hyphenated, as IMFriend'sE people assume the first part is a middle name.

fuzzpig if your double barrelled name is on your marriage certificate there is no need to change it by deedpoll - for you or your husband! We did this and only person to raise an eyebrow was post office man when we got our passports. But he rang passport office and was told he was behind the times!

HTH

I have a double-barrelled name (inherited from paternal side rather than a merge of my parents' names) and it's distinctive but irritating. And far too long.

"What's the name?"
"Lizzie Chic-Kens"
"Ok, Lizzie Kens"
"No, Chic-Kens"

I'm getting rid of mine as soon as possible. Then again, it's possible I'd feel differently if I were inheriting it as a combination of my mother's and father's names - I think I'd be more inclined to keep it in that case.

Lizzie that's my big concern with double barelling my name, its 8 letters long, 3 syllables and I've spent my life having to spell it out and now I've saddled dd with another bit on the end, poor child! We've already had some faces from doctors surgery receptionists and the like when I've had to use her full name as we normally shorten it.

That said I clearly do like my surname or we wouldn't of used it, afaik and my mums family history research has revealed its unique to my immediate family now so I just can't bring myself to kill it off (I'm an only child).

We did it, and have had no problems. It's up to our DC's what they do with their names if and when they marry - or indeed at any other point in life.

I think the only thing that would have put me off doing it was if my and DH's names really wouldn't go together. I kept my name on marriage and don't agree with the prevailing custom that if you have different names the kids get the man's name. That would be weirder!

We gave DD both our surnames (hyphenated) as we were not married. We are now but I have kept my surname and she retains both. However, a schoolfriend of DD also had a double-barrelled surname but as soon as her parents married her mum took her dad's name and she did too.

DD's name is quite long (15 letters, 4 syllables) (oh this is like charades) and we struggle a bit when filling in forms etc. Our families seem totally unsure of what to call any of us. We get Christmas Cards to an amazing combination of our names.