Is your last name hyphenated ? Do you know of anyone whose name is ?

Toomuchstuff

Toomuchstuff

Member
Location
Wisconsin
When I was young , I never heard of last names being hyphenated. I guess it's gotten "trendy" now. Do you know the reasoning behind it ? I don't know of anyone that has it , or I'd ask them. My first and last name are long enough - I don't need a longer signature ! Usually the lines that say sign here are too short for even my first name !
 

If Thomas Jones-Brown and Mary Smith-White married, she would be Mrs. Mary Jones-Brown. If she kept her maiden name and they a child who used the hyphenated names of both parents, Smith-White-Jones-Brown, grew up and married someone who also had a hyphenated four-name last name (for instance, John Williams-Hartley-Cooper-Bowman), would their child's surname then become Smith-White-Jones-Brown-Williams-Hartley-Cooper-Bowman? This could get a bit unwieldy...
 
I used to work with a man whose wife came from a minor branch of a Spanish royal family that had intermarried with the Hapsburgs or some other royal 'burgs. I can't even begin to remember what her name actually was but it sounded something like Maria Theresa Villanova y Garbanzo y Tortilla y Margarita y Loyola y Tostada de la Sopapilla y Tequila von Braunschweiger zu Wienerschnitzel von der Zepplin. The only thing I do remember was that she went by "Pippa". Makes perfect sense to me.
 
My daughter-in-law hyphenated her last name simply because her 1st and middle names are identical to my daughters...had a grand old time teasing my son about everyone thinking he was marrying his sister:)
 
I hyphenate on FB so old friends can find me. I don't hyphenate IRL. But, I can understand why women do. Men are John Smith from birth to death.. it's an identity. Women can change surname simply by marrying John Smith. I've had four surnames in my life. I never felt strongly about maintaining my birthright surname.. but can understand why some women do.. and can also understand wanting to take their husband's surname. Hyphenating is a way to do both.
 
It was a trend in the '80's and '90's. Fortunately, most Gen X/Y/Z no longer bother with such awkwardness. The woman keeps her name, the man keeps his; the kids get his last name although of course, they can change it if they want.

When somebody asked me if I was taking my DH's name, I replied, "No, but he's free to take mine if he wants!"
 
In the past, wealthy families that only had daughters would often require the new husband to take the girl's family name in order for the family name to go on. A man interested in marrying for money would usually be only to glad to comply.

I had a coworker whose husband took her name, but not for money...lol. He had three brothers who all had sons and she was an only child. They decided that his family's name was assured to be advanced, so he saw nothing wrong with taking her name. He also was an "Army husband"; she was stationed overseas and he went along as a dependent.
 

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