Wife v. Agent (and hyphenated names)

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onesecondglance

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Ahem... just for clarity, I'd like to draw a clear distinction between the use of double-barrelled names in fiction as shorthand for a posh stereotype - and like or dislike of that trope - and people in actual real life with actual double-barrelled names.

If it wasn't clear I wasn't referring to the former in my earlier post, I meant no offence...

:)
 
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mccardey

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I remember going through the will-I-keep-my-surname thing when I was a youngling and then being really disappointed when someone pointed out that I'd actually be keeping my father's surname.

So of course I wanted to keep my mother's surname, except that that was her fathers surname and it all went to hell in a handcart and I just decided never to get married or talk to anyone ever again.

(I felt better after a cup of tea)
 

Anna Spargo-Ryan

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I remember going through the will-I-keep-my-surname thing when I was a youngling and then being really disappointed when someone pointed out that I'd actually be keeping my father's surname.

So of course I wanted to keep my mother's surname, except that that was her fathers surname and it all went to hell in a handcart and I just decided never to get married or talk to anyone ever again.

(I felt better after a cup of tea)

Haha! Oh, the patriarchy.

I suspect I wouldn't have felt so strongly about keeping my surname if it hadn't been an original. I have simply spent too much of my life explaining it to give it up.
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

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As a person with a hyphenated surname, I am firstly having hurt feelings about all the hate ;)

Ha! I was waiting for you to turn up! But we could never be hatin on you for poshness. Mainly coz we all know that Australia (much like the US) has no class system anyway... ;)

Er, real-life hyphenate here.

SRSLY?? I did not know that *feels like she doesn't really know pensul at all* Is it Maths-Pensul?

I'm not posh.

I don't think posh exists in the states, so... never thought you were :tongue

(Didn't even know that stereotype existed! Maybe it's a UK thing?)

Quite possibly.

Never heard the term "double-barreled" before, but I love it and am cheerfully going to steal it.

You can have it on one condition - that you spell it BARRELLED like all proper posh people! :D

I don't think poshness has much to do with it, really.

I think there are probably some not-posh ones about, for various reasons (imitating posh people used to be one of those reasons I'm sure) but the only double-barrellers I know are posh. Cliches are cliches for a reason....
 
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slhuang

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SRSLY?? I did not know that *feels like she doesn't really know pensul at all* Is it Maths-Pensul?

I'm like an onyon, Bunneh. Full of layers.... ;)

I don't think posh exists in the states, so... never thought you were :tongue
True. We don't do posh heah. We shootin' our guns and spittin' our tobaccy and fartin' as we gobble da McDonalds. :D

You can have it on one condition - that you spell it BARRELLED like all proper posh people! :D
Ha! At first I did, but then the AW spellchecker (or my browser spellchecker?) corrected me!!

I think there are probably some not-posh ones about, for various reasons (imitating posh people used to be one of those reasons I'm sure) but the only double-barrellers I know are posh.
WAIT BUNNEH ARE YEW SAYING YEW DON'T KNOW ME AT ALL NAOW??? :cry:

I suspect I wouldn't have felt so strongly about keeping my surname if it hadn't been an original. I have simply spent too much of my life explaining it to give it up.

Yes, exactly this! I can't imagine changing my name. It's a rich part of my identity now. :D
 

jennontheisland

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I guess if the UK is your primary market, then this could be a concern, but in North America, "posh" is one of the spice girls, and the likelihood that Americans will see the stereotype in play seems low.

Mostly, I see hyphenated names as some kind of compromise between keeping an unmarried name and changing your name when you get married.
 

Buffysquirrel

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I remember going through the will-I-keep-my-surname thing when I was a youngling and then being really disappointed when someone pointed out that I'd actually be keeping my father's surname.

So of course I wanted to keep my mother's surname, except that that was her fathers surname and it all went to hell in a handcart and I just decided never to get married or talk to anyone ever again.

(I felt better after a cup of tea)

Hah! My mother asked me, why do you prefer your father's name to your husband's? And I said, it's MY name. It's the name I've had all my life!
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

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Hah! My mother asked me, why do you prefer your father's name to your husband's? And I said, it's MY name. It's the name I've had all my life!

Because husbands are disposable, but dads are for keeps? ;)

I wouldn't change my name if I got married (which I'm 99% certain I won't anyway) because I hope to publish under it, and... it's a kewl name. :D

D'ya know what tho? If I married someone with the same surname, but spelled differently (there are several variants, and no one ever spells my name correctly) I would take that and double-barrel the crap out of it, so that people at least had a halfway decent chance of spelling ONE of them right :ROFL:
 
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Anna Spargo-Ryan

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Because husbands are disposable, but dads are for keeps? ;)

I wouldn't change my name if I got married (which I'm 99% certain I won't anyway) because I hope to publish under it, and... it's a kewl name. :D

D'ya know what tho? If I married someone with the same surname, but spelled differently (there are several variants, and no one ever spells my name correctly) I would take that and double-barrel the crap out of it, so that people at least had a halfway decent chance of spelling ONE of them right :ROFL:

My partner and I have talked about changing our surnames when we get married ... to a friend's surname. Just for laughs.
 

The Package

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My tongue doesn't trip over them. I think you're good, OP.
 

alexaherself

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Mostly, I see hyphenated names as some kind of compromise between keeping an unmarried name and changing your name when you get married.

In the UK, it's almost never (or even just "never") that: those surnames are double-barrelled but not hyphenated.

Personally, I think it's something of an outdated cultural stereotype, but if it's what the agent wants ...
 

Reziac

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Thanks everyone, much appreciated. I chose the "Digby-Hume" because it's not overly long. And yeah, don't worry about the stereotype thing, as an Englishman familiar with the class system from that end, I'll be careful. The only time I'll be heavy-handed is when I'm mocking it. :)

By the way, as of right now her first name is Charlotte, but she'll go by "Charlie", so it's not too.... ya know.

I like "Digby-Hume". It has a pleasing and genteel rhythm. And "Charlie" will make for inevitable gender mistakes when one hasn't the live body to view...

My sister hyphenated her husband's surname onto her own... 14 letters in four syllables and it still didn't hold her back. She's one of the top professionals in her field.
 

juniper

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Now, my agent wants her to have a hyphenated last name. I was thinking something like "Digby-Hume."

But... my wife said she doesn't like reading hyphenated names in books, because the tongue trips over them and they're clunky to have to read over and over. (Actually, she said "Digby" was posh enough by itself.)

I'm wondering about the "Digby" being posh? - sounds like a good name for a dog.

I remember going through the will-I-keep-my-surname thing when I was a youngling and then being really disappointed when someone pointed out that I'd actually be keeping my father's surname.

So of course I wanted to keep my mother's surname, except that that was her fathers surname and it all went to hell in a handcart

I went through the same thing. "I'll take my mom's last name - oh, that was really her father's ... so I'll take HER mom's last name - but that was her mom's dad's name ... " maybe I should just be a one namer. Juniper. That is all.

Mostly, I see hyphenated names as some kind of compromise between keeping an unmarried name and changing your name when you get married.

Where I live that's common among all racial and socio-economic categories. Many women and a lot of kids have double surnames, sometimes hyphenated and sometimes just two surnames, first last last, which can get confused with a regular first middle last.

And here most Latinos have double last names, dad-mom. Their kids then have different double last names from the parents.

Mom is Ana Martinez-Hernandez, has kids with John Garcia-Lopez. Their kid is Bobby Garcia-Martinez. He marries Traci Gonzales-Vasquez, their kid is Teresa Garcia-Gonzales. And so on.

I saw that in California, too, but not in Texas (couple of decades ago).

My partner and I have talked about changing our surnames when we get married ... to a friend's surname. Just for laughs.

I have a friend who married and they both changed their last names to something that's not usually a last name. That was long before I knew her, so I'm not sure if there was any family pressure against it.
 

Reziac

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I'm wondering about the "Digby" being posh? - sounds like a good name for a dog.

I have a friend whose surname is Digby...

Mom is Ana Martinez-Hernandez, has kids with John Garcia-Lopez. Their kid is Bobby Garcia-Martinez. He marries Traci Gonzales-Vasquez, their kid is Teresa Garcia-Gonzales. And so on.

I've seen one like Garcia-Garcia, wtf??
 

Sonsofthepharaohs

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I'm wondering about the "Digby" being posh? - sounds like a good name for a dog.

Mah bunneh's name is Fraser Digby! But I named him after like, a real person and stuff... :)
 

usuallycountingbats

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Yes, exactly this! I can't imagine changing my name. It's a rich part of my identity now. :D

Hang on. Everyone knows posh = rich, so now you're trying to claim you're posh by the backdoor? Just living up to that double-barrelled stereotype (us, rich? No, no, Mummy and Daddy can't afford to hear the west wing at all, and they had to sell the Monet to pay for the vet bills for the ponies). :D

Ahem.

I also had no idea Lisa was double-barrelled. I also feel I don't even know you.

One sure fire way to denote posh if you wanted to would be some random nickname. Like Piggy or Ninny or Roo etc. That might be a good avoidance technique if you're worried about double barrelled being clunky?
 

jaksen

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If the name is 'melodic' or rhythmic in sound, that's the ticket. Put the full name together, read it aloud. A name with diff. number of syllables in each word is considered most 'melodic.' Or so I recently read. My grandfather had such a name: Forrest Remington Straight. It read two syllables, three syllables, one syllable.

Then it will roll off off the reader's tongue as they say it. Or read it. (If she has a middle name, one syllable.)
 

Anna_Hedley

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I have double-barrelled first name, so nyer nyer. I'm posher than all of you.

OP - I would go with the editor's suggestion.
 

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Oops, no, a little research shows me I am mistaken.
 
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Emmet Cameron

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All I have to contribute is that once I overheard a classmate saying that the main reason she wanted to get married was because she wanted to hyphenate her (3 letter) name, as she'd always felt it was too short.
 

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I have a character called Tyler until half way through when his true identity is revealed as Fitzroy-Tyler. It actually works well, as thereafter I sometimes refer to him as Tyler and sometimes as Fitzroy-Tyler, which breaks up the repetitive use of the name when I want to be more rythmic or fit him into different contexts.
You could, of course, get an English agent who would never make such an absurd suggestion.
 

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Charlotte

Thanks everyone, much appreciated. I chose the "Digby-Hume" because it's not overly long. And yeah, don't worry about the stereotype thing, as an Englishman familiar with the class system from that end, I'll be careful. The only time I'll be heavy-handed is when I'm mocking it. :)

By the way, as of right now her first name is Charlotte, but she'll go by "Charlie", so it's not too.... ya know.


Just by the way, I had an English friend who's name was Charlotte, she was posh and had a hyphenated last name. She called herself Lottie.
 
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