Why do the British hyphenate their last names?
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Why do the British hyphenate their last names?
In British tradition, a double surname is heritable, and mostly taken in order to preserve a family name that would have become extinct due to the absence of male descendants bearing the name, connected to the inheritance of a family estate. Examples include Harding-Rolls and Stopford Sackville.
Can you have two last names in the US?
A hyphenated last name would be Smith-Jones or Jones-Smith. It’s your choice which name comes first. Hyphenating your last name is considered a legal name change – meaning you can’t drop your spouse’s name or the hyphen in the future without having to go through a court-ordered name change.
Why do posh people have double barrel surnames?
The reasons for double-barrelling were originally financial. If two wealthy families joined in marriage both names would be perpetuated as a condition of the marriage. Wealth matches were common in the middle ages, and a famous, wealthy family would want their name to run on till the final trump of recorded time.
What is a common British last name?
SMITH
Note: Correction 25 September 2014
| Position | Name | Number |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SMITH | 2273 |
| 2 | BROWN | 1659 |
| 3 | WILSON | 1539 |
| 4 | THOMSON | 1373 |
Is it annoying to have a hyphenated last name?
Hyphenated last names are annoying. They’re impractical (what’s a hyphenate supposed to do if they marry another hyphenate?) and they force small children to lug around big, unwieldy names that never fit on their cubbies.
Can you hyphenate a baby’s last name?
Even though it’s still much more common for kids to take on either their father’s or their mother’s last name, there are more than enough hyphenated kids running around for it to be shocking. While giving your baby a hyphenated last name can lead to a few inconveniences in life, it was the right decision for us.
What is a hyphenated last name and should you have one?
A hyphenated last name is just what it sounds like: your and your partner’s last names, connected with—you guessed it—a hyphen. Oftentimes, hyphenated last names are described as a merge of a woman’s “maiden” and “married” names (her prewedding surname and her spouse’s surname). But this name change option definitely isn’t gender-exclusive.
Are double-barrelled last names hyphenated?
3 Answers. In Germany, double-barrelled names are normally hyphenated, I believe. Practice in England seems to vary. A double-barrelled surname is now legally treated as together being a single name in most of Europe (Iberia is of course different), regardless of hyphens or spaces.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of hyphenated names?
The biggest advantage of hyphenated last names is the absence of having to choose between two last names. It allows you to retain your identity while still legally adopting your partner’s moniker. However, there are some drawbacks to hyphenating.
Will Lauren Holland and Mary White hyphenate their names when they marry?
For example, both Mary White and Lauren Holland will hyphenate their names when they wed. Mary could change her name to Mary White-Holland or Mary Holland-White, and Lauren’s name would change similarly.