Hyphenated or double-barrelled

[Bluesername]

First names may be hyphenated, not 'double-barrelled'. Only surnames can be double-barrelled. Someone called Molly-Mae Milton has a hyphenated first name. Molly Milton-Magnusson has a double-barrelled surname.

Really? I thought double barrelled referred to a surname comprising two words eg Lumley Smythe. Hyphenated is just that, has a hyphen in the middle. So Lumley-Smythe

Yes, that's true; double-barrelled surnames contain a hyphen. I'm thinking more of all the baby name threads where people ask whether they should go for a 'double-barrelled' first name when the term only applies to surnames and they mean 'hyphenated'.

Where's it dictated that only surnames can be double-barrelled?

I would definitely only refer to a surname being double barrelled. Not sure why though. Is there a source backing this up?

I would also refer to a surname being double barrelled even if not hyphenated. So two names without a hyphen would be double barrelled but not hyphenated.

@Palavah the dictionary definitions of 'double-barrelled' I've seen so far only mention surnames, not first names.

Collins - A double-barrelled surname has two parts which are joined by a hyphen, for example ' Miss J. Heydon-Smith'.

Macmillan - a double-barrelled name is a family name with two parts, usually joined by a hyphen, for example ‘Lloyd-Webber’

Oxford Dictionary/Lexico - (of a surname) having two parts joined by a hyphen.

@Bluesername- I assume you have nothing else going on in your life at the moment???

Well said OP. I understand people’s confusion though. Here Swedish (my language) is superior since the word “doublename” is established for double first names and surnames are referred to as “double surnames” because the concept is by Swedish standards a bit off.

Double-barrelled surnames might contain a hyphen but they dont have to.

I suspect there was a need for distinguishing a double-barrelled surname because surname denoted paternity and breeding. Having multiple first names wasn't comment-worthy and/or didn't have the same implications.

I couldn't get worked up about it tbh.

@Hexago- correct, and still no idea what it means?

@Elouera I assume you didn't realise this is Pedants' Corner

Thanks banivani. It's interesting hear of how it works in Swedish - seems very sensible

to hear

[quote Bluesername]@Elouera I assume you didn't realise this is Pedants' Corner [/quote]
perfect reply

I think of names like Mary-Anne as hyphenated, not double barrelled, and would usually think of a double barrelled surname as Parker-Jones, although something like Parker Jones could be double barreled too.

In Baby Names, a shortened version of a name is a 'nickname'. I'd think of it as a shortened form or a pet name (not pet as in dog or cat or gerbil).

@RavingAnnie

I would definitely only refer to a surname being double barrelled. Not sure why though. Is there a source backing this up?

I would also refer to a surname being double barrelled even if not hyphenated. So two names without a hyphen would be double barrelled but not hyphenated.

You can definitely have a double-barrelled surname which doesn't have a hyphen: David Lloyd George, Camilla Parker Bowles, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Helena Bonham Carter.

(The dictionary was a bit wrong to give "Lloyd-Webber"as a rule, because it's not how a well-known person with that name spelled it, nor any of his immediate family, until he was knighted and became Baron Lloyd-Webber.)

I am married to someone who until he changed his surname to mine on marriage had a double-barrelled surname without a hyphen.