How to name a baby with a difficult surname?

[BlackLantern]

So the name we like just rhymes with our surname and I think it will always sound silly. So many names we can’t use due to the sound and layout of the surname. Do we just suck it up and give them a rhyming first/second name and acknowledge it’s always going to be an issue whatever we pick or pick something that works and we don’t love as a name?

Unfortunately whatever name we use, even if the most mainstream boring sounding name, the surname still stands out, so thought trying to “own” it might help.

Exactly.

Unhelpful when the OP says "our surname"

Nah I think some rhyming names can completely work - your example of Jack Black is a good one, as it sounds memorable and strong to me. An off- rhyme/similar ending sound like Max Hicks or something might be also sound strong rather than silly.

Sorry to be unhelpful but it’s really going to depend on the name. Plus somehow a very commonplace name (like Jack or Max) that happens to rhyme with the surname is going to seem very different to an uncommon one which looks more like you’ve done it in order to stand out iykwim?

That doesn’t mean the OP was magically born with her DH’s surname. She can give their offspring her birth surname and they can call the child any or all of the names they love but are apparently debarred from by their surname.

In fairness, I think the OP should be commended for acknowledging her husband’s surname is ‘difficult’, but she apparently didn’t let that deter her from changing her name to it. Mn is full of women claiming their birth surname was awful and/or inconveniently difficult to spell, so they were dying to change it to their DH’s miraculously lovely, easy to spell one.

Something like Jenny Penney?

Hyphenate the first name?

Please don't. The second name gets dropped, and it looks so naff.

Benjamin-James Murray-Penn will be Ben Penn in daily life anyway.

It's unclear whether you like a rhyming name or just have an unusual surname. If you like a rhyming name, pick something different. If it's just a distinctive surname, do the best you can with it thinking of the child, not what you like. How do you and your husband's names work?

Are you saying one syllable and strong sounding? That's fine, just pick anything that doesn't rhyme. The child may not want to 'own' a rhyming name.

That's a poor, atypical example. Think Ellie-Mae. And everyone I know with a double-barrelled surname uses 'both' in daily life considering it's a whole, new surname created out of two.

everyone I know with a double-barrelled surname uses 'both'
Everybody you know. I know some who do and some who don't. The ones who do tend to have very ordinary first names and last surname, something like John/Jane/Oliver/Olivia Smith.

Very few of the people I know with hyphenated first names use both. None of the men seem to.
Even little ones who are Lily-Rose or Ellie-May tend to be Lily or Ellie when they've started school.

@Catandsquirrel i don’t want a rhyming name for rhyming s sake. There are a lot of issues and names we can’t use due to sylllable flow/sounds. So wondering if something that we like is fine as the surname will always be an issue no matter what name we put with it. Even the most innocuous name will always have issues with the surname.