Waterman, Smallwater or Smallhouse?

[CJKnox]

My surname is Waterhouse; DP's is Smallman... We are getting married soon. We're also expecting! Which new surname would you use? I think Smallwater sounds the best?

[Oysterbabe]

The trail won't go cold. They'll just Google it and find this thread

[Somerville]

Good idea, and definitely Waterman.

Though I wouldn't want to give up Waterhouse.

[exLtEveDallas]

I think it's a great idea as long as the names 'fit'. Waterman sounds the best, but I actually quite like Smallhouse as well.

[WetsTheFinger]

I love this idea!

[WetsTheFinger]

I love this idea!

[Lules]

I'm amazed that people think this is a bizarre idea. I didn't think it was that rare to do this. And I think waterman is the best. Do not go for Smallwater.

[StetsonsAreCool]

I wish I'd have known about this approach to surnames when I got married. I love the way both of your names are repr sented. You're blending your lives together, so why not your names?

I also like waterman best. And I'm also glad that this wasn't a forename list 😂

[CJKnox]

Why is it silly??

Thanks everyone!

Yes, I like my surname

[Ontopofthesunset]

I think Waterman is the best of the options.

I think it's quite a good idea and might become more common but you have to have the right sorts of surnames to generate something not ridiculous. It works for these as they're both two-part noun-noun combinations. My surname's a one syllable noun and my husband's is a three syllable name with no meaningful syllables. Any combination would sound ridiculous. I kept my surname anyway and he kept his, and we decided the children would have his but they could just as well have had mine.

For example, Trump and Clinton? Trumpton? Clump? Climp?

Also, what happens if you get divorced or split up (a 2011 estimate suggests that this happens in at least a third of marriages) and then remarry? Do you unsplice your names and resplice them with new partners? Do you double-barrel your spliced name with your new partner's spliced name?

[sonlypuppyfat]

It just seems like you're trying a bit too hard to be different, I only know one man who changed his name when he got married, and it always seems to me he did it because he's scared of his wife!!

[FlameGrower]

Dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah
Ooh-yay-yay-yay-yeah
Oh-oh-oh-oh-wah
Only the sonly

Move with the times girlfriend! It's okay not to follow the pack.

[trufflepiggy]

Waterman sounds great. I wish my name and DPs name sounded nice when mashed up.

I think this kind of naming style is great

[RNBrie]

My brother did this when he got married. I think a portmanteau surname will become increasingly popular as women's equality continues to improve.

I regret changing my name when I got married but all the dc have my husband's name too now so I don't really want to change it back.

Of your options, I really like Smallwater but I think Waterman is a more sensible option.

[OlafLovesAnna]

This is a brilliant idea! As the owner of a double barrelled name (I married it) I wouldn't recommend it, I think the idea of a new family name is great.

As other posters have said I love Houseman but of yours Waterman is my preferred option.

[motherinferior]

Of course you don't have to ponce around with birth certificates if you have different names. Actually I had no idea where my kids' birth certificates were and just ordered new ones. They have both our surnames, but no way would either of us take the other's and in our case a mashup really would not work (we're talking surnames from entirely different continents, languages and indeed religions).

[Beebeeeight]

Of those 3 Waterman

But you could also have houseman or wallman or waterall

[Floralnomad]

To be absolutely fair you should take the same number of letters from each name so you could be Mr and Mrs Watman , wish we'd done this we could have been the Loons !

[Haffdonga]

Great idea OP. Waterman or Houseman.

I didn't expect equality to have passed quite so many people on MN by without them even noticing that women or their children no longer feel it necessary to become a man's named property

[NotYoda]

Waterman is best

I agree with you about double-barrelling. Would not choose that route

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

It's a good idea and I'm baffled by why so many people are struggling with it. It wouldn't have worked for us, sadly, as my husband's surname and mine end in the same two letters. They would have sounded ridiculous double-barrelled and I can't think of any way we could have merged them. (Something like Thomson-Johnson.)

Anyway, this reminds me that when I was a very little girl I knew some name changing went on when a couple got married but I thought they got to choose a completely new surname for the family. I remember saying to my mum that I would like to be called Seymour when I got married. Cue much hilarity. Pity really.

[Joinourclub]

I don't think this is silly at all. All our surnames were 'made up' at one point, I don't think there is anything odd about you giving yourselves a new surname for your new family. My husband and I did discuss doing this, but I have no particular attachment to my surname so didn't really mind film giving it up.

[CantThinkOfAQuirkyName]

So you're getting married soon....

An old English (and other) tradition.

Why not take your future dh name? I really don't understand it.

It's not about equality etc.

Playing devils advocate -what if you both separate? With all the best intentions in the world it happens. Then what would your DC surname be?

I think it's a nice idea but for me I think you should all have your dp surname. I don't see the point.

[CJKnox]

Erm, marriage is a good thing to do when expecting a child IMO. If we separated (I'm not blind to the idea it happens) I would keep the new surname, so will our child. I wouldn't remarry as I only want one child it really isn't a big deal.

[RollerDiscoQueen]

Playing devils advocate -what if you both separate? With all the best intentions in the world it happens. Then what would your DC surname be?



Their surname would stay the same. Waterman or Smallwater or whatever name they're given at birth.

I think you should all have your dp surname

And your one good reason for this is?
^

[CJKnox]

That sounds like I am just marrying to get a child what I mean is remarrying wouldn't happen, as we are doing that as we are becoming a family, with a child, which wouldn't happen again as I only want one.