Hyphenated last names

[christina.chen]

Do you think it's too much to give your daughter a hyphenated last name? I'm wondering if she might hate it one day when she gets married and has the longest name ever.

[valley]

Just give her a hyphenated last name if you wish, she can always decide to just use one or the other later.

[charlyBUG]

I don't think it will be bad. Many people have hyphonated last names.

[kimbert]

Well, if she really hates it, she can get it legally changed when she's 18. Right?

[gandas]

I've always wondered -- if a Jolie-Pitt married a Cox-Arquette, would their children be Jolie-Pitt-Cox-Arquette?

[mamaash01]

I had a hyphenated last name growing up. It wasn't ever a big deal...except on standardized tests; they never had enough boxes for all of the letters. When I was in middle school and it became a social kind of issue, I was old enough to choose if I wanted to use one name or the other. I liked both names, so kept both. I think your daughter will be fine w/ a hyphenated name...if she doesn't like it when she is old enough to understand it; don't be offended if she wants to use one or the other.

[sarahdennisscott]

I don't like the ides, but it's your child.

[rsampson]

I wouldnt recommend it. I gave my son a hyphenated last name and it sucks telling doctors offices and any other places that need his information because i always have to explain it to them like they dont understand that his name is hyphenated. Its just a pain in the butt.

[GreenPixie]

I work at hospital as an ER admitter and I really dislike hyphenated last names. Most parents get tired of the second last name and don’t use it after a while. So when the kid was born here they have a hyphenated last name but then when the kid is 2 and they bring their kid in to the ER they forget to mention its hyphenated last name and it takes forever to find them in the computer. (You might think this is a small thing but when your kid is sick and you think the only thing standing in the way of their treatment is the slow admitter, 5 minutes of not finding the kid in the computer will seem like too long.) To make matters worse mom usually has a new last name by now so the kid has two last names neither of which is the moms last name or the dad they are currently living with. (Obviously not in all cases, probably not in your case but I see that a lot) Also when they forget to tell their insurance the kid has a hyphenated last name the insurance won’t pay because the names won’t match up. I’m sure there are many reason to want a hyphenated last name but you might want to make sure it’s worth the hassle it’s going to be on every legal document you have to fill out.

[Galikian]

It's really up to you if it's important or has special meaning then by all means do it. But when she grows up and gets married how do you know she's going to want to keep her last name/names at all? She'll probably give her last name up and take on his last name like most people do, so don't let that worry you