Why do people dislike hyphenated names?

[PoppyOnTheRun]

I’ve noticed a lot of dislike for hyphenated names and wondered what the issue with them is? Is it because it can sound cutsie?

My DC have very short one syllable names (we have a long although not hyphenated surname) but a friend has just called her DS a name very similar to Harry-Josh and is upset as people keep calling him just Harry and she is forever correcting people? Is this a common issue with hyphenated names or more because she has chosen two names that you don’t very often see hyphenated like that.

The main reason for asking is a pregnant friend just send me her shortlist of names and asked for my thoughts and one is hyphenated and another the initials spell out a word so my instinct was to veer away from both of those but I can’t really give a good reason for the hyphenated one.

I don't understand people's issue with them!

Go for it op try not to take people opinions on here too seriously.

If she wants to spend her life correcting people then she can go ahead, just like those with unusually spelt names.

I have an unusually spelt but well known name, it's a pain in the arse to correct people. I would never do that to any child of mine. If I had a hyphenated name I imagine that I would just pick one of the names to stop the daily irritation of people getting it wrong.

The main reason IME is because it represents a demographic which many people don’t aspire to be.

A lot of people say they’d like their child to be a doctor/lawyer/dentist etc and so choose names that current people in those professions have - classic names.

I think it’s seen as being quite chavy to hyphenate. Also, people abbreviate even the shortest of names so in your friends case, I would imagine people are just shortening it as they would any other name!

I think that unless you come from countries like France and Spain, where hyphenated have always been used, it seems a bit odd in British culture where they haven't been so popular. I think something like Harry-Josh sounds ridiculous personally! It seems a bit over the top, like you are trying to draw special attention to the child - a bit like people who refer to their child by first and middle names in public!

Seen as lower class, which is a bit mean. However, more to the point - they do generally sound pretty naff. Silly, fussy, overdone, cutesie - all of those things. Harry and Josh are two perfectly normal and nice names. Harry-Josh sounds ridiculous. That's it in a nutshell.

They are chavvy/hill billy-ish. All very crap and ridiculous sounding. Harry-Josh, or similar, is really awful.

Totally pointless! Give them a first name and a middle name if a person wants to give a child two names.

They need to just pick one name. No one is going to call them a hyphenated name unless it’s some hokey American Billy-Joe type thing. The poor kid would be so embarrassed when they’re old enough.

Harry and Josh are two perfectly normal and nice names.

They are nicknames. It seems contrary to not use the full name (Henry, Joshua) but make a long name out of cobbling together two shortenings.

"The main reason IME is because it represents a demographic which many people don’t aspire to be"

^ this.

I didn't have any particular opinion about hyphenated names until I noticed the repetition of certain names by a fairly distinct group of people. Think -Rose and -May/Mae/Mai on the end of everything. That kind of killed it for me with any of those names - particularly of most of these kids were wearing those hideous baby headbands and 'little adult' outfits instead of babygros at a few weeks old . It's not just about not wanting to be part of any particular 'demographic', it got repetitive and boring.

And yes, I hate Harry-Josh too. It sounds like they just couldn't decide between Harry and Josh so called him both. Poor kid.

Hyphenated names are a bit of a mouthful. In the same way a lot of people would abbreviate Joanna to Jo or Benjamin to Ben, they'll shorten Harry-Josh to Harry - often to the parents' annoyance!
I don't like the name Harry-Josh personally but it's more because of the names which are IMO both nicknames, than the hyphen.

Sticking two nicknames together with a hyphen...its clunky, its irritating and its just non-U.

Yep simply because they have gained popularity among lower classes

If they had become popular amongst middle-class children instead then you'd see completely different opinion of them on here

There are some lovely hyphenated names.
I disagree with them being exclusive to lower class. Not that it matters who uses them.
My Gran used to have a friend called Elsie-May (born around 1916) and another called Mary-Ann.

My daughter has a hyphenated name commonly referred to as 'chavy' on MN but it is a Caribbean name. I think that there is classism and racism on MN and for some reason ethnic and working class names are fair game.

For me, it's about the cutesiness of it. It's like people are naming a pet or a toy rather than a human adult.

Lily-May (for example) is actually a really pretty name but it's become so common (as in popular, not lower class!) That it just doesn't seem so nice anymore. I thinks lot of the hyphenated names around have suffered the same fate.
As a child I had a friend called Mary-Clare. We always thought it was quite posh!

It comes off as bit lower class I think as those are usually the children who have hyphenated names also it feels as if every little girl has May/ Mae/ Mai or Rose at the end! Harry-josh sounds awful though and I think people who hyphenate their children's first name need to be prepared for it be shortened just like any other name.

As others say, it is partly a class issue--these names don't have an image problem in France, say.

The other problems are that people ditch the second half rendering the exercise pointless, hyphens get confused with middle names causing more muddle, and people often remember that a name is a hyphenated name BUT not which hyphenated name it is.....! So Mary-Anne gets called Mary-Lou, Lucy-Anne, Anne-Marie etc. etc.

Billy-Bob comes to mind! Or Bobbie-Sue. Avoid unless you're from the Deep South of America.

It’s definitely a class thing.

In France it is totally normal, although you don’t see many babies with hyphenated names these days, come to think of it. In the US it’s quite redneck/hillbilly. In the UK it’s seen as lower class.

I think the main reason I don’t like them is because they seem overly cutesy and infantile.

If I were called Elsie-Rose and I wanted to be taken seriously at work, the first thing I would do is start calling myself Rose.

My sister has a hyphenated name, she has a really high pitched voice, and people find her irritating. I honestly think her really flowery name doesn't help her..

Some of the European royals have hyphenated names such as Princess Marie-Chantal, King Willem-Alexander and his daughter Catharina-Amalia. I don’t find those names low class , same with hyphenated French names. It’s not the hyphen that is the issue, it’s the chosen combination of names. Bobbie Sue or Elly Mae are not in the same league as Marie-Chantal.