I love double first names. Maybe it’s the Southern Girl in me but I just love them.
What are your general opinions on double first names?
Would you also use a middle or think of the second name as the middle?
Would you hypen the double first name ( [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Kate[/name_f]), would you smoosh it together (MaryKate/Marykate) or would you just make it separate ([name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Kate[/name_f])?
I Would hyphen it personally 
I love how you used [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Kate[/name_f]! Haha I love the name, but wouldn’t want to use thaaaat one, have yet to find another I like.
I would do
[name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Kate[/name_f] Middle Last
I do have a friend though [name_f]Laura[/name_f] [name_f]Kate[/name_f] and [name_u]Abby[/name_u] [name_f]Grace[/name_f], and their parents just used the middle spot.
I feel like it depends on what the double barrel is. At some point, I’ve considered these double barrels:
[name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Sophie[/name_f]/[name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Claire[/name_f] _____ [surname] “[name_f]Annie[/name_f]/[name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Sophie[/name_f]/[name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Claire[/name_f]” and [name_f]Eve[/name_f]-[name_f]Claire[/name_f] _____ “[name_f]Evie[/name_f]/[name_f]Eve[/name_f]-[name_f]Claire[/name_f]” (full double-barrel as a first, hyphenated)
[name_f]Ella[/name_f] [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] [name_u]Lior[/name_u] [surname] “[name_f]Ella[/name_f] [name_f]Kate[/name_f]/[name_f]Ella[/name_f] [name_f]Cate[/name_f]” and [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] [name_u]Ruby[/name_u] “[name_f]Emmy[/name_f] Roo” (double barrel nn from first name and first middle, no hyphen)
So I think I’d opt for either one of those formats, but I definitely wouldn’t do the smoosh (there was an Emeryjane in my family tree, and I find it so smushed and unappealing, honestly), and I’m afraid that if the full double-barrel was the full FN, and it wasn’t hyphenated, I feel like people would only use the first name (like a [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]-[name_u]Wren[/name_u] would end up being just [name_f]Sophie[/name_f]/[name_f]Sophia[/name_f], rather than [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]-[name_u]Wren[/name_u]…).
I don’t mind the classic, traditional ones like [name_f]Annmarie[/name_f]/[name_f]Ann[/name_f] [name_f]Marie[/name_f] and [name_f]Maryann[/name_f]/[name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Ann[/name_f].
I know a [name_f]Sara[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f] and a [name_f]Katie[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f], since [name_f]Grace[/name_f] seems to be the popular 00’s middle for double-barrels.
I also know a [name_f]Sarah[/name_f]-[name_f]Jane[/name_f], which feels rather 70’s to me.
I think they can work, but they will always feel very countrified to me. Made for hollarin’
There are times this seems forced. [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Kate[/name_f] seems right but [name_f]Megan[/name_f] [name_f]Kirsten[/name_f] doesn’t seem like a “first name”. I would probably use the hyphen to simplify things. [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Kate[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] would be called [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_f]Kate[/name_f] but [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Kate[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] [name_m]Smith[/name_m] might get [name_f]Mary[/name_f].
I like names like [name_f]Anna[/name_f]-[name_f]Sophia[/name_f] and [name_f]Maggie[/name_f]-[name_f]Ava[/name_f]. Not so much [name_f]Mary[/name_f]-[name_u]Lou[/name_u] etc
I love [name_f]Sophie[/name_f]-[name_f]Anne[/name_f] In [name_m]French[/name_m] speaking [name_f]Canada[/name_f], we often use hyphens. My name is [name_f]Marie[/name_f]-[name_f]Eve[/name_f] (it sounds better in [name_m]French[/name_m] than English, trust me xD).
I really hate hyphens. They’re such an ugly piece of punctuation. I do like double firsts in theory, though I don’t know anyone who’s had one (two? heh). I do, however, have a few friends who are generally called by both first and last names, since they flow together so well and sound ‘namey’ – S@r@ [name_f]Judy[/name_f] and [name_f]Jenny[/name_f] R@y B@iley are the two that I can think of.
I do pretty strongly associate double firsts with [name_f]France[/name_f] and [name_m]French[/name_m] [name_f]Canada[/name_f], and with American Southerners. If you do give your kid a double first, people might make assumptions about where you’re from. Not necessarily a big deal, but something to bear in mind.
Some double firsts I like:
[name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_u]Ray[/name_u]
[name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_u]Gray[/name_u] (the daughter of a blogger I follow)
[name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_f]Bea[/name_f]
[name_u]Ruby[/name_u] [name_u]Jean[/name_u]
[name_f]Nella[/name_f] [name_f]Kate[/name_f]
[name_f]Sara[/name_f] [name_f]Kate[/name_f]
[name_f]Nova[/name_f] [name_u]Lee[/name_u]
[name_f]Faye[/name_f] [name_f]Marie[/name_f]
[name_u]Jean[/name_u]-[name_f]Marie[/name_f] (though I dislike hyphens, this seems to work…hm)
[name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Belle[/name_f]
[name_f]Rose[/name_f] [name_f]Marie[/name_f] (I actually prefer this to [name_f]Rosemarie[/name_f])
[name_u]Quinn[/name_u] [name_f]Marie[/name_f]
[name_f]Kate[/name_f] [name_f]Marie[/name_f]
[name_f]Bella[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f]
[name_f]Molly[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f]
[name_f]Jenny[/name_f] [name_u]Dove[/name_u]
[name_f]Sally[/name_f] [name_u]Wren[/name_u]
[name_f]Emma[/name_f] [name_u]June[/name_u]
[name_f]Lola[/name_f] [name_u]Day[/name_u]
[name_f]Cora[/name_f] [name_f]Beth[/name_f]
[name_f]Hannah[/name_f] [name_f]Claire[/name_f]
[name_u]Jem[/name_u] [name_f]Elise[/name_f]
[name_f]Lila[/name_f] [name_u]Bliss[/name_u]
I love double names! When deciding on whether to hyphenate or smoosh, I think it depends on the name. It can seem like too much, if the names don’t flow well or look good. For example, [name_f]Marie[/name_f]-[name_u]Quinn[/name_u] looks like a name but Mariequinn looks weird. I’m not sure I would even know it was the same as [name_f]Marie[/name_f]-[name_u]Quinn[/name_u] without really looking at it closely.
A lot of my favorite double names contain [name_f]Marie[/name_f] because it would honor my grandmother. My favorite smoosh names are [name_f]Rosemarie[/name_f] and Lilymarie. I also like [name_f]Marie[/name_f]-[name_f]Claire[/name_f], [name_f]Marie[/name_f]-[name_u]Quinn[/name_u], and [name_u]Ruby[/name_u]-[name_u]Lane[/name_u]. I would hyphenate to decrease the chance that part of the name will be dropped. I would also give a separate middle name that is only one or two syllables.