Hyphenated Last Names - Senior's Opinion

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
I was happy to take my husband's last name when we married nearly forty years ago, and would have never even thought of keeping my maiden name and putting it first with a hyphen. What's your opinion of hyphenated last names? Seems like it could be quite the can of worms, if the next generation chose to do the same? http://www.ehow.com/how_2150648_use-hyphenated-last-name.html
 

I'm pretty much a traditionalist regarding that, preferring to take one's husband's name, but it doesn't really matter to me one way or another. What I do dislike is people using their first name initial, followed by their middle name. Can you say pretentious? What is the point?
 
I can understand a woman professionally known by her maiden name either keeping it or hyphenating it. I can even forgive women who for whatever reason choose not to change their name at all. But when total unknowns and unremarkables do it to give the impression they're descended from aristocracy or somesuch I draw the line I'm afraid.

That line becomes a brick wall when single women choose to adopt their mother's fancy hyphenated handle. Whaddsa madder, Dad's not good enough for 'em? Not ostentatious enough??

It finished me when I saw some nobody in a local rag titling herself as "Sharon Smith-Browne" (yep, with an 'e', of course.) But Smith for gawd's sake???
Half the world is a Smith, who is she kidding??
 

What about women who marry several times? Such as Sharon Smith-Browne-Jones-Taylor-Jackson-Knight-Wilson-Fisher?

And as mentioned what names do the children go by?

I agree about using the first initial. My middle name is Lawrence and I go by Larry. I do not use my first initial. It sounds strange to me.

If a person writes his name as Jerry R. Smith I would assume he wants to be called Jerry. If he writes his name as Robert Smith I assume he wants to be called Robert. If he writes his name as J. Robert I can only assume he wants to be called J. Or maybe J. Robert.

If that was my name I'd just write Bob Smith.
 
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis
Jan-Michael Vincent
Jennifer Love-Hewitt
Michael Stahl-David
Kodi Smit-McPhee
Malcolm-Jamal Warner
Mark Linn-Baker
Lorenzo Lamas-Craig (took his wife's last name)
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Carol Moseley-Braun
Farrah Fawcett-Majors
Chris Evert-Lloyd

Jay-Z :playful:
 
A person's name is personal and I'll call myself whatever the heck I want to. Look at how we use our names on this forum. Maybe I'll just go by TICA in my everyday life.

Seriously, I don't have any problem if someone -'s their name. I know of one man who changed his name to his wife's name because he hated his stepfather. Different strokes for different folks! I do have a problem with some of the crazy handles that people give to their kids though.
 
I took my husband's last name when we married years ago, but I also changed my middle name to my maiden name at the time. .. not hyphenated though. It just became a very strong personal decision to keep my father's name. Sparing details, I didn't want to lose that piece of my identity, and I did it in a way not to cause any problem or confusion when I married.

As for people who go by initial/middle name/last name .. a couple thoughts ... maybe they just don't care for their first name all that much - have known a few people over the years who fit that description.
Or maybe too much sameness in a family tree, and they want a little individual identity so they drop the first name to ease the confusion?? I'm sure there's a thousand reasons.
 
Tacking Junior onto names seems to be an American thing, can't remember that being used here.
Wish it had sometimes, especially when trying to track family trees. Everyone seemed to call they're first children after themselves back in the day and it sure gets confusing. My own mother was given exactly the same first AND second name as her mother, and her eldest brother the exact same two as their father!

Some people just got no imagination.
 
Perhaps if ElizabethTaylor had strung all her hyphenated names together it would have discouraged others from following this silly fad.

especially when trying to track family trees. Everyone seemed to call they're first children after themselves back in the day and it sure gets confusing
Click to expand...

Oh good point Di. My grandfather's nephew, Philip was the last in a line of 7 Philips going back to the 1600's. It almost drove me to drink LOL
 
TICA said:
A person's name is personal and I'll call myself whatever the heck I want to. Look at how we use our names on this forum. Maybe I'll just go by TICA in my everyday life.

Seriously, I don't have any problem if someone -'s their name. I know of one man who changed his name to his wife's name because he hated his stepfather. Different strokes for different folks! I do have a problem with some of the crazy handles that people give to their kids though.
Click to expand...

A rose by any other name will still . . . make you bleed...
 
I also changed my last name when I was married, and never even considered hyphenating it, but my husbands aunt, who had divorced her husband, had added her maiden name back in and hyphenated it.
I really don't care what name people want to go by, so I totally agree with TICA on that part.

I do use my first married name as well as my last name now on my Facebook page, but not to be pretentious .
It is simply that I was married to my first husband for around 25 years, so any long-lost friends who might be searching for me on FB would be looking for me under that name.
When I see the hyphenated names, and it is not a celebrity, then I just assume that it is someone similar to myself , and wants to use a name that friends will remember and recognize .
 
That does it.

From this moment on I no longer wish to be known as "SifuPhil".

I will henceforth be referred to in legal, personal and public affairs as "Sifu-Phil".


... that, or "Lord-High-Executioner-Without-Portfolio" - not quite sure what it means but it sounds cool as beans! :cool:
 
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