Why do people double barrel first names?

[FlawlessFuckup]

Inspired by the ‘somebody explain Nando’s to me’ thread to find answers to my own personal mysteries.

I just don’t get it. I think hyphens look ugly, and most people only get called the first half of the name anyway, Sofia for Sofia-Rose etc.

I personally feel hyphenating names with a made up misspelt half-name like -Mai is odd. But I find it even odder when people hyphenate two ‘normal’ names, that have no obvious connection to each other, like Sofia-Rose, to use the same example.

I just don’t get it. Could someone explain it to me? Why would/did you do this? Is it because you couldn’t decide between two names, or another reason?

After reading the thread I think that it must be a cultural thing. I've never met/heard of anyone called Lola-mai-rose or variant thereof. I also think that Dahlia is a pretty normal name, I mean it's easy to pronounce and easy to spell. I guess it's about what fits as well. A double barrelled history inspired name fits our children/our family really well but it would be extremely weird if we called one of our kids John or James or something like that. I like traditional English names but when one os neither traditional nor English having one of those names seems like one is trying too hard. In the sane way I guess it would be a bit strange if David and Sarah who lived down the road in Essex their entire lives call their children Minerva-Elizabeth and Athelstan-Charlemagne.

I find it stranger still when people hyphenate long names or names that don't sound right together.
Nathaniel-Jake or something.

And the poor child trying to write and learn to spell their name in Reception!

My friend has a hyphened name - Julie-Ann.

Her parents were going to have Ann as the middle name but they then decided they liked the sound and flow of Julie-Ann, which also meant that she was then going to have no middle name. She doesn't mind though.

She loves her name. We all call her Julie-Ann. Hardly anyone calls her Julie, it just sounds wrong.

lol @EggsonHeads that is cute/funny

I don't like them either and think they can sound a bit tacky.

In my DCs school there around about 100 Ellie-May Evie-Rose, Ella-Rose, none of the parents actually refer to the DCs as their full name though 90% of the time so I don't see the point!

Sometimes 1 is choice and other is nod to grandparent (Or someone else)

Yes, pronounced Callum.

Very common where I am from in Ireland, but not Lily-Mai, more like Claire-Louise, Sarah-Jane, Elizabeth-Ann. Also as has been made clear, it's common in the states, Mediterranean Europe, Germany, South America... are all these countries vair lower class then?

I knew an Irish girl called Maria Theresa which sounds so grand ,doesn't it? Hardly 'lower class'.
She got called 'Mate-ree' .

I think in some generations it was acceptable and not 'common'. Have known several Anne-Maries in my time (both from MC Scottish families) and on my father's side of the family (professional across four generations) it's been the norm for nearly a century. There is a Catholic connection though which probably explains it. Interestingly, everyone has chosen in adulthood to known by the second part of their hyphenated name without exception .

Satan-Grace has made me laugh.

Mind, I’ve always thought that Lucifer was a lovely name, Biblical issues aside.

I know a Danny-Boy. Always referred to in full.

I don’t like it either, although my son’s little friend has a double barrelled first name and actually a double barrelled surname too! That’s s mouthful for sure.

I stuck my surname in as both children’s middle name as it can also be used as a forename and saved us double barrelling their surnames. I suppose it’s a play on what Egg has done on Page one but just far less fancy 😜

I suppose parents just love both names. I was tempted to add in the hyphen for my DD after she was born because quite frankly her name is amazing and I wanted to shout it from the roof tops....I gave my head a wobble and didn't mind..

Some of the children's names at our school are incredibly long and hyphonated and people use the full name, it's totally OTT but I quite like seeing all the little ones with their 5 or 6 syllable names!

Try this Sporcle quiz on double-barrelled first names. Hint: you have to enter every different spelling separately... Has kept me occupied for hours.

quiz

ermagerd Weasel I'm actually surprised how many I got in two minutes until I got bored and stopped.

I know someone who painstakingly trawls the lists when the ONS releases them, to combine eg Isabel/Isobel/Isabelle, Mohamed/Mohammed, etc for a better indication of popularity. Because it may well be true that the precise name you've chosen isn't in the top two hundred (or whatever) but if it sounds identical to something that's top ten then that's useful information to someone who cares about popularity!!

One of my DDs has a double barreled name. I had forebears named Peter Stanislas (no hyphen but known by the full name), Marie-Louise, Eleanore-Margaret, Anna-Maria, Anne-Claire... All Irish and Catholic.

It's a popular option in Ireland and has been for generations. Not at all 'council' .

Out of fashion now is the use of Mary as a middle name for boys in Ireland. My grandfather actually went by 'Mary' because his first name was such a Latin mouthful.

I know a woman in her early 60s called Carol-Margaret Morrison- McLean. Names changed slightly. I think she thought it made her sound classy.

I don't know how to say Dahlia. I know the flower is pronounced Dale-ya but it's a popular name in Scandinavia so maybe it's pronounced Dahl-ya.

It's pronounced Dahl-ya. The flower id Dahl-ya or Dale-ya apparently.

is not id

I know a very upper-middle class, staunchly Catholic family who have given one of their DDs an unhyphenated double-barrelled first name along the lines of Maria Theresa. Everyone seems to use the full name and they gently correct anyone who calls her 'Maria'.

Names that “go” together traditionally, like Sarah-Jane, Mary-Jane, Anne-Marie, Sally-Anne, fine. DD was at school with an Emily-Maeve, which doesn’t exactly trip off the tongue.