I was having a conversation with someone and mentioned a name with a 3 syllable fn (7 letters) and a 2 syllable mn (9 letters). They commented that it was too long, not because of the syllables but the length of the name (specifically the middle). [name_f]Do[/name_f] you all consider the length of your name combinations? Is it an important factor to you?
I don’t really consider the length of the name, to me it is all about the flow. Very rarely are you ever going to say the child’s full name anyway. We have a double barrel last name so if I worried about length I would be stuck with one syllable names. That being said, I wouldn’t do a double barrel first with two middles on top of a double barrel last as that would be over kill.
So to me flow matters more than length but length is something to keep in mind.
I don’t think I like many first names that are 4+ syllables. And even a first name that has three syllables combined with a middle that has three was labeled “too much name” by my husband last night, when I suggested it. So it’s an uphill battle for me, even if I do start to like a long-ish name.
3 syllable with 2 syllable plus an average length last name is not too complicated to say on the occasions when you’ll be using all names together. I think 7 letters plus 9 letters is long but not TOO long. I came up with several names of that length to check. [name_m]Just[/name_m] random combinations.
[name_f]Marissa[/name_f] [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f]
[name_f]Lavinia[/name_f] [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f]
[name_m]Brendan[/name_m] [name_m]Alexander[/name_m]
[name_m]Abraham[/name_m] [name_m]Johnathan[/name_m]
I don’t usually consider the number of letters. If I decide a name is “too long” it’s generally because it has too many syllables (though I don’t have a set limit on how many syllables I like or anything like that). I suppose it makes sense to pay attention to the number of letters for purposes of filling out forms and whatnot. But in that case I’d worry even less about the number of letters in the middle name, because a lot of the time you either don’t need to include it on forms or you only need an initial.
Flow + Length + Syllables all together are how I determine whether a name is an overkill or not.
Example:
[name_m]Maximilian[/name_m] [name_m]Amadeus[/name_m] is an overkill to me. It doesn’t flow. Altogether, it has 9 syllables, and it’s 17 letters long. And that’s only with 1 FN & 1 MN!
[name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] is okay by me. It flows, it has 7 syllables, but it does have 17 letters. It’s give and take. It might be a little long, but it sounds great.
The most important criteria is the flow. Then syllables. However, I suppose my limit for length would probably be 20 letters for 1 first & 1 middle name. At that point, you’re just trying to make their life harder lol
I don’t really think about it, to be honest. I guess it makes sense to think about it in terms of the child learning to write their name, but the whole “they’ll never learn to spell it!” thing never bothered me so I don’t see why the number of letters should. Maybe it’s because my last name is only 6 letters (and SO’s is only 5 letters long), so it wasn’t an issue. But I had an ex who was [name_m]Christopher[/name_m] with two, 7-letter 2-syllable middle names, and a 2-syllable 8 letter last name. The length of his name never really bothered him, but it didn’t fit on forms well. But then again I also knew a [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] [name_f]Laura[/name_f]-[name_f]Katherine[/name_f] (named after all 4 grandmothers) who DID hate her long name. Different strokes for different folks! I wouldn’t worry about it.
Hm…I don’t think about it that much. My own first name is 9 letters and my middle is 8 and they’ve never seemed especially long to me. I really don’t see it being a problem. I guess I would consider the amount of syllables - 4 would be my max. It’s not like there are many names with more than 4 syllables anyway.
I don’t give it a lot of consideration, but then I tend to like shorter names. I did find it interesting that my husband wasn’t keen on using two middles, but then he likes names like [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] and [name_f]Victoria[/name_f] which are longer than my two middle options combined! I would agree that some combinations ‘appear’ longer than others, and syllables as well as number of letters would come into consideration for the overall effect.
Full name length doesn’t bother me too much. I have a bit of a thing about (sibling) name length individually, but for me full names can be any length really (within reason- no 5 line long names!), as long as the flow is okay. My full name is pretty long, and it hasn’t caused any hassle whatsoever, so I’m fine with both long and short names; I slightly prefer long names actually. 
I agree with a lot of you. I had found it funny with how common [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] and [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] are as mn, for the person to find a similar length name too long. I consider syllables more than the length of the name.
I have never thought about the number of letters in a name. Our last name is 4 syllables, so I wouldn’t choose a first and middle name with 4 syllables each. If the first or middle name was really long I may choose a 2 syllable name for the other name.
My first name is 3 syllables but only 5 letters long, my first middle is 1 syllable and 4 letters and my second middle is 4 syllables and 9 letters. My last name is 1 or 2 syllables (depending on pronunciation) and 5 letters long. I love how my name is long-short-long-short - I feel like it breaks the name up, but keeps it flowing. When I think about other people’s names, though, I don’t really consider length unless it’s very short or very long!
I do think giving your kid a day to day name that’s longer than maybe 8 letters is a lot for a kid. Learning to write that long of a name without a nickname, and pronouncing on a daily basis a 4 or 5 syllable name just seems cumbersome to me.
But then me and my whole family have one or two syllable names. I can’t think of a single person I work with or know well who has more than 3 syllables in the name they use day to day. And looking at my work’s phone list I only see one name (out of hundreds) that’s more than 8 letters ([name_m]Christopher[/name_m]).
[name_m]Long[/name_m] names can be beautiful, but in actual practice they’re usually not practical.
Yeah, I do. If the first name is short (5 or less letters) then I don’t mind if the middle name is up to 10 letters, vice versa. For example, I don’t mind [name_f]Lily[/name_f] [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f] or [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f].
But if the first name is long (8 letters max) then the middle name can’t be more than 6 letters. For example, I wouldn’t consider names like [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] or [name_f]Francesca[/name_f] [name_f]Rosalind[/name_f] because they make me cringe. They’re so unnecessarily frilly.
I’d make sure they were even, though. For example, my first name is one syllable and four letters, my middle name is one syllable and four letters, and my surname is one syllable and four letters. It’s so unbalanced and although I’m used to it and it does flow, it’s an abrupt name.
My name is [name_f]Brittany[/name_f] [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f] (8 letters, 3 syllables + 9 letters, 4 syllables) which seems kind of long only it never comes up in real life. My first name is usually shortened to two syllables and when do you ever use your middle? Length doesn’t matter with the name you’re born with, it’s more about what you’re called every day.