Are hyphenated first names a bad idea?

[NannyOgg26]

Are hyphenated first names a bad idea? There are a couple that we like, but I've heard people be quite disparaging about hyphenated names before. The ones we are considering are
Anne-Marie and Amy-Beth.

I know quite a few children with hyphenated names, the majority end up being known by just one of them, so make sure you like both the names individually.

Fwiw Amy-Beth makes me think of Little Women.

My name is Anne-Marie. It’s French. It’s a ‘proper’ name.

I think hyphenating a random two names is a bad idea though. It’s seen as ‘common’.

Anne-Marie is ok. The ones people are disparaging about are the Demi-Leigh, Lexi-Mai type names.

Is is usually the first or the second one they end up going by or does it vary?

Ime usually the first

Remind me of Country and Western singers...

I’m a secondary teacher. There’s probably 8 girls in my school with a hyphenated name. All of them just go by the first name, except for in reports.

I go by Annie to friends and Anne-Marie to family and at work.

I wouldn’t go by Anne!

Everyone I’ve ever known with a hyphenated name just goes by the first name, except a girl named Anne-Marie!

My friend has hyphenated all of her children’s names and even she abbreviates them to the initials in her texts. I don’t see the point

It’s a bit of a fad to have a hyphenated name right now. Every girl seems to be some combination of:

Lily-Rose
Evie-May
Darcy-May
Isla-Rose
Gracie-May
Mia-Rose
Daisy-May
Olivia-Rose
Harper-Rose
Amelia-Grace
Ellie-May
Ella-Grace
Poppy-May

Yes they are. I have one and while it’s not MN ‘tacky’ it’s such a pain when you only go by one name, but have to use two for everything medical/official. Plus the bloody hyphen that causes issues on some online forms. I honestly detest it and have contemplated changing my name
officially, I like the first one just fine on. It’s own, but I know my Mum would be hurt if I did.

Just pick a name, and have a middle name, it’s so much better.

I’m a Maryanne and many people can’t wrap their heads round it. I usually get called Mary or Anne-Marie. I’ve been asked by randoms if it’s French and why it’s not hyphenated. Sometimes it’s spelled Mery or Marian. It’s been a pain in the arse my whole life. IT at work have decided I’m Mary and that’s that. 😞

And Molly-Mae.
They are all so twee.
I wouldn’t.

I see a few different types of hyphenated names: the first is old-school French/European (often Catholic-influenced) names like Anne-Marie and Marie-Claire, the second is mid-century names (often combinations with Jane or Anne) like Sarah-Jane and Julie-Anne and the third is the most modern combinations like Gracie-Mae, Riley-James etc.

I think it's the latter category that get the bad rep. Anne-Marie in particular is a very well-established name and I can't see her having many problems with it.

On mumsnet choosing a hyphenated name is apparently how heroin addicted peasants signal to each other.
In the real world millions of normal people give their children hyphenated names and it’s fine.

I really dislike hyphenated names. Your ideas are on the nicer side (more classic, less twee) but still not my cup of tea. Maybe make one the middle name then you can always use both if the situation demands it! I like all 4 names in isolation.

I like a lot of hyphenated names but two flowers ie daisy rose, lily rose etc is a bit much

Agree with this. Also disagree with pps who say she'll be known as first name only. I know a jean-paul, a marie-claire, a jean-michel and a sarah-jane! Sarah-jane is more of a sarah but I think thats personal choice, the others are all full name and it would be really weird to call them only the first part. The names youve chosen are established names and will be lovely full names.

The Annemaries I know spell it like that, no hyphen. Just in case that’s an option for you.
Hyphens in first names are often looked down on in the UK it’s true, but it’s more the Lilli-Mae type names that have a bad rep.
Anne-Marie/Annemarie is a well established name.
Amy-Beth has an American vibe imho.

Ughhh all of these are like nails down a blackboard

It is a bit of a thing on MN at the moment to dislike hyphenated names, but, while there are some I think don't work well, I don't think you can tar them all with the same brush.

I think where the problem comes in is hyphenating with names that are not all that classic in themselves - like "leigh." So Darcie-Leigh for example.

More classic versions, like Sarah-Jane, or Anne-Marie or Sarah-Kate I think are rather nice. I went to school with quite a few of these name types and they certainly didn't fit the descriptions these names sometimes get!

FWIW I don't mind Lily-Rose. Not my cup of tea exactly, but when Johnny Depp and Vanessa called their daughter this, I did think that it was noticeably tame and pretty and much nicer than a lot of the weird celebrity child names.

So I think it depends entirely on the names hyphenated. To me, a Sarah-Kate sounds better than a Marnie or a Sadie, so personal taste comes into it.

Mine is Mary-jane for the most part people assume Jane is my middle name 😊

To me that isn't remotely awful!

I know quite a few European families with aristo connections who have lots of hyphenated names in the family. Admittedly, that is more the ones my age and not their dc, but to me they don't sound at all tacky - quite the opposite actually.

Obviously things like Milly-Molly-Mandy are a bit silly!