As far as I can tell, there is a selection of pre-hyphen names that can be chosen. These include Lily, Ella, Ellie, Evie, Ava, Lacey, and Gracie. The post-hyphen names include Rose, Mae/Mai/May, Leigh, and Grace.
I was confused to see Mai. Is it pronounced the same as May and Mae?
Also, none of these hyphenated names were in the Top 150, but I felt compelled to post about it because there were so many of them. Do hyphenated names have a certain image associated with them? What might it be?
Thanks,
LL
Sorry- just realized I forgot to include Wales in the title. Correction: Wales and Englands’ bizarre influx of hyphenated baby girl names.
I would most likely not use a hyphen. [name_f]Lilia[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] would be called [name_f]Lilia[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] quite often but I rather use one as a first name and the other as a middle name. [name_m]Just[/name_m] my personal preference.
I’m a Britberry and I know of a few; [name_f]Lily[/name_f]-[name_f]May[/name_f], [name_f]Lillie[/name_f]-[name_f]Mae[/name_f], [name_f]Isabel[/name_f]-[name_f]Mai[/name_f] and [name_f]Ella[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f] [name_f]Lily[/name_f]-[name_f]May[/name_f] is very popular over here!
Yes, it’s a thing and it is associated with a certain group in society which has given it a big of a negative edge I think. It’s a similar story for the boys ([name_m]Tommy[/name_m], [name_u]Tyler[/name_u], [name_m]Oliver[/name_m], [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] & [name_u]Alfie[/name_u] with [name_u]Lee[/name_u], [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_u]Jay[/name_u], [name_m]Joe[/name_m] etc) though there aren’t as many. It’s not that uncommon now to hear “[name_f]EVIE[/name_f]-[name_f]MAY[/name_f]!” yelled across a beach or park. I’m not sure why it’s become a thing though. [name_f]My[/name_f] best guess is that it’s a way to use more names without seeming pretentious, e.g. [name_f]Lily[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] could be seen as something ‘upper class’, but [name_f]Lily[/name_f]-[name_f]Rose[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] isn’t so much. Or it could just be that a lot of people have decided their kid having two first names is really cool.
[name_f]Mai[/name_f] is pronounced the same, thought I’m unsure why it’s spelt as such. Presumably an attempt at making the name more unique, without much thought for spelling issues. [name_m]Lord[/name_m] knows how much trouble a [name_f]Lillie[/name_f]-[name_f]Mai[/name_f] would have with her name’s spellings.
ETA: Thanks for saying ‘[name_f]England[/name_f] & [name_m]Wales[/name_m]’ btw. It irritates me no end when the [name_f]England[/name_f] & [name_m]Wales[/name_m] stats are passed off as the whole of the UK’s
To answer your question: Yes, hyphenated names and “nicknames as first names” are all the rage in [name_f]England[/name_f] and [name_m]Wales[/name_m]. It’s like a terrible disease that’s spreading and becoming an epidemic. I hope this trend doesn’t travel across the pond but I have a feeling it will soon.
To be honest this is my major pet peeve at the moment because I just don’t get the trend if I’m honest. I just don’t see the point in putting the hyphen in there - if you want to call you child [name_f]Lily[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] then that’s fine. It’s really not a unique thing to do anymore, there’s so many of these hyphen names out there and as you’ve identified the same names crop up over and over again. It’s trendy names with a common middle name, e.g. [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_f]Mae[/name_f] etc.
Unfortunately, [name_f]Mai[/name_f] is supposed to be the same as [name_f]May[/name_f]/[name_f]Mae[/name_f].
I find the whole trend incredibly chavvy, tacky and just not something that will last or stand the test of time.
I’m not from [name_f]England[/name_f] or [name_m]Wales[/name_m], but this sort of hyphenated name thing was quite common the Southern US in the past, though it’s not quite as popular today. It seems like a lot of naming trends make their way across the pond… I’d be curious if this encourages an uptick in Southern US families reclaiming some of those old hyphenated names.
Personally, I think it’s sort of charming and it doesn’t bother me, but that’s probably because a hyphenated name draws up the image of a prim and proper, sweet-tea-making, church-hat-wearing, southern grandma for me
Yeah, it’s a big thing here. With boys too - I knew two little [name_u]Gary[/name_u]-Lees in my area, a [name_u]Kieran[/name_u]-[name_u]Lee[/name_u] and a [name_m]Declan[/name_m]-[name_u]Lee[/name_u].
There’s certainly a specific socioeconomic class associated with the names; they’re generally labelled as chavy (the UK class system is really far more complex than what I’ve seen in N.[name_u]America[/name_u], so the word ‘chav’ often doesn’t translate very well, but it’s not entirely an economic thing). And whilst teen mothers are not synonymous with ‘chavs’, all three girls in my year at school who’ve had babies already - aged 17 or under - have given their children this type of name.
But I mean, I wouldn’t make any huge assumptions about an [name_f]Evie[/name_f]-[name_f]May[/name_f]'s background. There’s a lot of room for cross-over, I know a [name_f]Lola[/name_f]-[name_u]Skye[/name_u] with fairly upper-middle class parents, and have a close friend who’s an [name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Bette[/name_f] from a wealthy (Scandinavian) family. But like I said, chav doesn’t equal lower-class.
And I don’t really understand the hatred towards this type of name - they’re not inherently bad. I’m sort of shocked to hear them talked about like a ‘disease’. I mean, get off your high-horse, I’d much rather hear a little [name_f]Annie[/name_f]-[name_f]Grace[/name_f] than a [name_f]Ashlynne[/name_f] or Chelsiee.
Cutesy is definitely a thing in the UK too - [name_u]Ruby[/name_u], [name_f]Kitty[/name_f], [name_f]Millie[/name_f], [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], [name_f]Daisy[/name_f], [name_f]Poppy[/name_f], [name_u]Connie[/name_u] - it actually surprises me when I hear them described at ‘too cutesy’ or ‘too short’ because they’ve been 100% normal in the UK for decades. And they really don’t have much to do with social class at all, far less than the hyphen trend.
[name_f]Mai[/name_f] is the [name_m]French[/name_m] spelling of the month (to my recollection), and hyphenated names were common in [name_f]France[/name_f] when kids were named for Catholic saints…doesn’t seem a stretch that a variation of this trend spread.
Hyphenated names are seen as chavvy and lower class, I know a [name_f]Lilly[/name_f]-[name_f]Mae[/name_f]/[name_f]Lily[/name_f]-[name_f]May[/name_f], [name_f]Evie[/name_f]-[name_f]Mae[/name_f]/[name_f]Evie[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f]/[name_f]Evie[/name_f] [name_f]Mai[/name_f], [name_f]Shyla[/name_f]-[name_u]Leigh[/name_u] and have heard multiple others called across a playground/supermarket etc. This all in a low income area and the children being from the ages 5 and under. When I was at school there was a [name_u]Kerry[/name_u]-[name_f]Ann[/name_f] and [name_f]Sally[/name_f]-[name_f]Anne[/name_f].
I know a lot of the mum’s I know like to give their children cute sounding names, which sometimes ends up with them choosing hyphenated names listed above although I think this might be transitioning a little as I have heard a lot less hyphenated names of babies, just toddlers. A lot of the recent births in my area include [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], [name_f]Esme[/name_f], [name_f]Isla[/name_f] and [name_f]Eloise[/name_f] (all go by fullnames at the moment)
[name_f]Lily[/name_f]-[name_f]May[/name_f] is very popular over here!