Double barrelled names

[luckyone]

Just curious, what is with double barrelled names? I just don't get it. They're bad enough if they're inflicted on you by your parents, but why do some people choose to take them on?

And what happens when a woman with a double barrelled surname ends up getting married? Do they then get a triple-barrelled surname?

Stupid questions, but I'm tired.

 

[jaycee]

Just curious, what is with double barrelled names? I just don't get it. They're bad enough if they're inflicted on you by your parents, but why do some people choose to take them on?

And what happens when a woman with a double barrelled surname ends up getting married? Do they then get a triple-barrelled surname?

Stupid questions, but I'm tired.

And how did you think those parents who forced themse names on their children got them ?

 

[Propertunity]

Are you talking hyphenated surnames after marriage?

I always wondered how she would like it if Gloria Schiffer married some guy with a surname of Brains.

 

[joeExpat]

In Spanish & Portuguese speaking countries two surnames is the norm. In Spain & many other countries it is actually a legal requirement to have two surnames, & no-one has a middle name.
And yes, the child actually has 4 surnames, but the last two get dropped off usually, & the child has the two first surnames of the parents. The parents can choose the order, but it must be the same for all children.
So the mother, father & child all have different surnames (of course women never change their surnames). My son was born there so I had to get my head around all of this.

 

[Dazz]

Yeah, bit rough when Gerturde Drake-Brockman wants to marry Theodore Singen-Clyde and both absolutely refuse, due to strong family traditions to compromise on their names....ending with male offspring such as ;

Bartholomew Christopher Drake-Brockman Singen-Clyde.

As a little grade 1 filling out his school papers, the poor little b@st@rd will be there 'til tomorrow just putting his name in the top left hand corner.

Of course, when he grows up and meets another snooty girl with 4 surnames who also refuses to compromise, we'll get an "eighter" and that really does start to get a tad ridicarous.

 

[Lil Skater]

I have a few friends with two surnames.

Many are due to the mother not taking on the fathers name at all, or hyphenating their own names. Then the odd few have had the mother remarry and take on their step-Dad's last name too.

I will be taking on James' hyphenated last name in a few months (and so will the future kids), but I will be dropping mine off completely - which is good because I can finally stop being called names that usually involve some kind of Asian food.

Plus, just cause you do get married it doesn't mean you have to take the partners name in any way, shape or form. Betty Smith-Brown can remain Smith-Brown when she marries Barry John or become Betty John instead, or be a real pain and do the hole triple barreled last name - but that's just showing off.

 

[weg]

Just curious, what is with double barrelled names? I just don't get it. They're bad enough if they're inflicted on you by your parents, but why do some people choose to take them on?

The one time I think these names are a good thing is when the alternative is a common first name and single common surname, and there are a few of you in the one city.

I once had to do a check for someone with a large public hospital, after a mixup to find over half a dozen people with the same name. This person was down as being 2 people as well .

Errors shouldn't happen especially with DOB and UR numbers but I wouldn't feel too comfortable with a common name.

 

[VYBerlinaV8]

My parents tried to force a double-barrelled surname on me when my mother remarried when I was 9, and even at that age I resisted strenuously, and ended being the only one in the family left with the 'old' surname.

 

[JamesGG]

My youngest sister was the only one actually born with the Gatherum-Goss name; the rest of us adopted it somewhere along the way.

Dad was born as Dale Goss, and it changed to Dale Gatherum when Grandma remarried about three or four years later. Didn't have much of a say in it back then, of course. I'm still not 100% sure what prompted the change - could well have been Mum's pregnancy with Kelly - but he combined the two when he was about thirty.

I always assumed that mine had changed as well, and was enrolled at school and everything as James Gatherum-Goss from that year onwards. It wasn't until I applied for the air force when I was about seventeen that I found out otherwise .

 

[evand]

I don't like double barreled names either. I agree, why would anyone do that? Are they showing off?

I was absolutely fine with my wife keeping her surname when we married (which can be Italian tradition) with the kids having my surname.

There was much shock and disbelief from many friends and relatives.Its amazes me how tradition bound and conservative people are. No wonder 99% of the population are less than successful. (is that the correct percentage?)

Ive never been one for conservatism and convention anyway.

 

[VYBerlinaV8]

I don't like double barreled names either. I agree, why would anyone do that? Are they showing off?

I was absolutely fine with my wife keeping her surname when we married (which can be Italian tradition) with the kids having my surname.

There was much shock and disbelief from many friends and relatives.Its amazes me how tradition bound and conservative people are. No wonder 99% of the population are less than successful. (is that the correct percentage?)

Ive never been one for conservatism and convention anyway.

I resisted having a double barrelled name because I was already sick of explaining to all and sundry why my name was different from my mum's, and about family breakups. I decided that I didn't need to saddle myself, and my potential future family, with any of that burden going forward.

 

[kathryn d]

I resisted having a double barrelled name because I was already sick of explaining to all and sundry why my name was different from my mum's, and about family breakups. I decided that I didn't need to saddle myself, and my potential future family, with any of that burden going forward.

Maybe children should always take the mum's surname, since fewer people seem to be getting married now.
Without a DNA test, the father may not be 100% sure, but generally we can be pretty sure about the mother (except for mixups at hospitals, IVF clinics etc)

 

[Ausprop]

Maybe children should always take the mum's surname, since fewer people seem to be getting married now.
Without a DNA test, the father may not be 100% sure, but generally we can be pretty sure about the mother (except for mixups at hospitals, IVF clinics etc)

brilliant in its simplicity really

 

[Luv2Travel]

I was born with my father's surname, but a number of years ago I added my mother's maiden name and hyphenated the two. Nothing to do with "showing off". I don't believe in women changing their names after marriage, so that's not an issue for me.

 

[cu@thetop]

My surname is Farken-Hall and I'm jolly proud of it you ignorant antipodeans.

 

[kathryn d]

In countires where females are considered "disposable" having them be the ones that carry on the family name, may also save lives.

 

[Tuppence]

One of Prince William's supposedly eligible wifely options - before the engagement announcement, of course - was Isabella Amaryllis Charlotte Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe. True dinks.

 

[neil100]

I don't like double barreled names either. I agree, why would anyone do that? Are they showing off?

I think we probably were! We had our first son quite young (wife was 19 and I was 21) and also before we were married. This was over 20 years ago and we probably thought it would be 'cool'.

After about 7 or 8 years, getting married and some growing up, we realized we had no real reason for him to have the double barrelled name, so we got him renamed and a new birth certificate issued, and I am glad we did!

Cheers
Neil

 

[imonmyway]

indians take the first name of the father as the family name

 

[rugrat]

Plus, just cause you do get married it doesn't mean you have to take the partners name in any way, shape or form.

Agree with that. My DH and I have different surnames. I kept mine and he decided he didn't want to change his. I didn't push the issue, afterall it's been his name for all his life and if he wants a different last name to me, who am I to argue.