Double barreled first names

[name_m]Hi[/name_m]

I am wondering what your thoughts on double barreled first names in general. I wondered if you would answer a few questions for me please.

[name_f]Do[/name_f] you like double barreled first names, yes or no?

[name_f]Do[/name_f] people use double barreled first names on a daily basis?

Would people call my future child [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f] or would they shorten the name to [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]? [name_m]Just[/name_m] as an example.

Are double barreled names a hassle to live with? I live in the UK if that has any bearing.

Thank you for answering any questions.

I think they’re awful - you did ask!
Are you thinking of giving your future child the same first name that you are changing your name too?

I’m not a huge fan, but depending on where you are they’re much more common and thus work better. I have a niece with a double barrel name, but she lives in the South in the us, and it’s more common there. I feel like in [name_m]Britain[/name_m] they’re much more common and would be generally well received. For the record, I do like [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f]!

It really depends on the name, but I’m generally okay with them. I’d prefer more interesting combinations, for example I absolutely adore [name_f]Luna[/name_f]-[name_f]Fae[/name_f] and [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] as names, and I only like the latter in full (I.e. not just [name_f]Mary[/name_f]).

I can’t say for certain whether a double barrelled name would get shortened. I knew a [name_f]Molly[/name_f] who had a double barrelled name (I can’t remember what it was) who only introduced herself as [name_f]Molly[/name_f], but one of my cousins occasionally gets called by his full name, but only by our grandma and if he’s misbehaving a bit. I also knew a [name_f]Grace[/name_f]-[name_f]May[/name_f]/[name_f]Gracie[/name_f]-[name_f]May[/name_f] who was called [name_f]Grace[/name_f] and her full name about 50:50, so I think it varies.

As far as I know from scanning British baby names lists mostly, double barrelled names are quite popular here. I definitely don’t think they’re unusual at all.

I think it very much depends on the names that are put together. I think [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f] is super sweet, and works together well.

Whether she is called [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f] or just [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] most of the time really comes from what you call her, and what she likes.
I went to school with an [name_f]Emily[/name_f]-[name_f]Rose[/name_f], who was always [name_f]Emily[/name_f]-[name_f]Rose[/name_f]. Not [name_f]Emily[/name_f] ever. On the other hand, I have a friend now named [name_f]Katie[/name_f]-[name_u]Leigh[/name_u], and everyone just calls her [name_f]Katie[/name_f]. She introduces herself as just [name_f]Katie[/name_f] to new people, etc. It really does just depend.

Usually, hyphenated names make me think of southern [name_u]America[/name_u]. They’re not super common here, and a feel like I hear them mostly on cheesy American “down south” TV shows… stereotype, I know, but it’s true.

I am a huge fan. A few of my kids have double names, and they go by both. I don’t use a hyphen, though.

It’s not a big deal to let people know that he/she goes by both. It also gives the child a good chance to have a very individual name, while still using at least one (or both!) common names.

For the record, we’re not southern :slight_smile:

My kids always get compliments on their names.

I don’t like them, personally. As for whether people would use them or call her just [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], it really depends on how you enforce it. If you correct people when they say her name to call her [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f], it might catch on. On the other hand, she may well decide when she’s older to go by [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] alone. It’s not really a sure thing so it depends on whether you want to deal with the possible hassle.

I’m from the UK too, and I run into a LOT of double names: [name_f]Ella[/name_f]-[name_f]Mai[/name_f], [name_f]Lily[/name_f]-[name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Ava[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_f]Daisy[/name_f]-[name_u]Rae[/name_u], etc. etc. Quite honestly, they strike me as too cutesy, and very overdone here in the UK. I think a lot of parents choose to double-barrel in order to make their child’s name more “unique”, but it ends up having the opposite effect because there are just so many girls (and, increasingly, boys) with this type of name.

That said, clearly you do like double names, and [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f] flows nicely and is a perfectly fine and wearable name. I do like both names individually: very soft and classic. In my experience, children with this type of double name do tend to end up going by the first bit only, but I know a 3-year-old [name_f]Myla[/name_f]-[name_f]Rose[/name_f] who is always called by the full version (so far!), so perhaps it can be done.

I think they’re fine, although I wouldn’t use one. I have a younger stepsister named [name_f]Angela[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f] who is sometimes called the full thing and sometimes just [name_f]Angela[/name_f]. If you use a double barrel, my recommendation would be to make sure that you like and are okay with the use of both names individually because there’s a high likelihood that other people (or even your child themselves when they’re old enough) will drop one of the names for simplicity’s sake.

I like them if they can be merged, as in AnnaKate or MaryKate, or [name_f]Annamaria[/name_f]. But hyphenated…not a fan, especially if she wants to hyphenate her last name after marriage. [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f] [name_u]Parker[/name_u]-[name_m]Brown[/name_m] looks silly…

In general I do like double barreled first names, especially when both names are on the shorter aide or one of the names is more gender neutral or unexpected. I do think the names need to work together/compliment each other though, just tacking two names together doesn’t necessarily work.

Anyone I’ve ever know who had a double barreled firstconsistentky went by my the full name and not just a portion of the name with one exception: I knew a boy in school whose name was [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m]-[name_m]David[/name_m] and he woukd go by [name_m]Ben[/name_m]-[name_m]David[/name_m] in class. [name_m]Eben[/name_m] then he never went by just [name_m]Ben[/name_m] or [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m].