Portmanteau last names

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hyphenation is more common than making up a new last name...and is less bizarre--especially when neither parent is willing to take the new last name.

Hyphenating isn't a nuisance. My name is hyphenated, and so are my kids. The only (rare) issue is when someone alphabetizes the last name under Jones instead of Smith (Smith-Jones).

What do people with hyphenated names do when they get married and have kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hyphenation is more common than making up a new last name...and is less bizarre--especially when neither parent is willing to take the new last name.

Hyphenating isn't a nuisance. My name is hyphenated, and so are my kids. The only (rare) issue is when someone alphabetizes the last name under Jones instead of Smith (Smith-Jones).

What do people with hyphenated names do when they get married and have kids?

The same thing that people with non-hyphenated names do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hyphenation is more common than making up a new last name...and is less bizarre--especially when neither parent is willing to take the new last name.

Hyphenating isn't a nuisance. My name is hyphenated, and so are my kids. The only (rare) issue is when someone alphabetizes the last name under Jones instead of Smith (Smith-Jones).

That's tautological: More people hyphenate, and it's less weird.

I don't think that hyphenating is a nuisance, or weird, but DCUM does -- just as DCUM thinks that portmanteau last names are a nuisance, and weird. When it comes to names, DCUM could not be more conventional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The prior mayor of LA, Antio Villaraigosa did this--

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Villaraigosa#Personal_life

Personally, I'm not a fan because I wouldn't do it myself-- my last name and my spouse's last name are important to us. Our kids have a hyphenated last name. But I know there are others who don't place a ton of value on family history (no judgment) so why not create something new.

Actually, this guy did it the only way that makes sense. He and his wife changed their last names to the Potmanteau name and then gave that to their children. As in a FAMILY NAME. Like, this is the "Thomwell" family. Instead of Mr. Thompson, Mrs. Maxwell, and their son Larlo Thomwell.

I'm laughing even imagining that. It's so pretentious and dumb.

Pretentious of what, exactly?

Also, why must there be a FAMILY NAME? What is nonsensical about Larla Thompson, Larlo Maxwell, and Ava/Liam Thomwell?

OP here. I kind of thought most people would take some issue with it which is why my initial feeling was not to do it. But, since posting, I think I've decided that I don't really care if people roll their eyes at us while the child is young... more concerned about the name working for an adult, and I'm not seeing any reason it wouldn't. There are practical reasons it makes sense to have the same name as a family, but either way we will have two different last names in the family because my husband and I aren't changing ours.

OP, please please please tell us your child's first name. I would bet so much $$$ that it's something really new age and/or a traditional name spelled weird.

Our top choices are Eloise and Louisa (in honor of a Louise)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP, please please please tell us your child's first name. I would bet so much $$$ that it's something really new age and/or a traditional name spelled weird.

Our top choices are Eloise and Louisa (in honor of a Louise)

PP, you owe the OP so much $$$. Pay up, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hyphenation is more common than making up a new last name...and is less bizarre--especially when neither parent is willing to take the new last name.

Hyphenating isn't a nuisance. My name is hyphenated, and so are my kids. The only (rare) issue is when someone alphabetizes the last name under Jones instead of Smith (Smith-Jones).

What do people with hyphenated names do when they get married and have kids?

You can just pick one of your two hyphenated last names to keep/pass down-- one way to do it is for a male born with a hyphenated last name to keep/pass down the name that came from his father (so one name runs down the paternal line, same way it would have with "traditional" last naming) and a female born with a hyphenated last name to keep/pass down the name that came from her mother (so one name runs down the maternal line.) Baby Mother'sMom'sName-Father'sDad'sName. Not that complicated, that's what we're doing.

[Anonymous]

I skipped over a few pages of the thread. My cousin did an alternate version: she kept her name, he kept his name, baby got a completely different last name.

Pros: they didn't want to choose one over the other. They got to be creative.

Cons: kid is now in preschool and is utterly confused. He can't understand why he doesn't have the same name. But in a 3 yr old sense of questioning...

And now they are expecting another which will have a 4th last name... I'm sure little Timmy will be even more confused

If you are going to do a new last name - consider doing one for the whole family.

[Anonymous]

This is all so weird. OP you played the race card. I think you have issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. People who know people who have done this - where were they located? DC has some rules about what last name can go on the birth certificate, so I'm wondering if they will give us a hard time about it...

http://cssd.dc.gov/page/birth-certificates

"The child’s last name on a birth certificate

District law determines the last name (or “surname”) that can be given to a child. The last name can be:

The mother’s surname when the child was born;
The father’s surname when the child was born;
Both parents’ names, recorded in any order, hyphenated or unhyphenated; or
Any surname to which either the mother or father has a familial connection. The District’s Vital Records Division requires a parent to sign an affidavit attesting to the familial connection.

For the father’s last name to be the child’s last name, he has to be recognized by law as the father. "

Combining last names is a mistake. People will be confused when they see his school directories.

[Anonymous]

I think it's a great idea, and more appealing to me than a hyphenated name. Unfortunately, my husband's name and mine would not make a good combo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP, please please please tell us your child's first name. I would bet so much $$$ that it's something really new age and/or a traditional name spelled weird.

Our top choices are Eloise and Louisa (in honor of a Louise)

PP, you owe the OP so much $$$. Pay up, please.

I don't believe OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You are so not sorry.
I did you a favor. There are people....lots of them....like me....that will consider your child as odd....a kid to be politely observed before being welcomed into their child's life. I don't think your idea regarding naming your child is "lovely". And...I don't think people that say your unique style of naming your child is "lovely"....really think that. It is weird. So, if you want to bring your child into this world with the burden of being "weird"....so be it. Go for it. I think it is selfish.

You would be less welcoming to a child whose last name was a combination of its parents' last names? (Assuming that you even knew this to be so.)

Oh wow.

YES....it's weird. And combine that with the OP's chip in the shoulder....and insecurity....there's enough of that drama around here...AVOID.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know at least one couple who have done it. If I hadn't been told, I never would have known. I don't think it's a big deal.

+1.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's a big deal at all. I've known 2 or 3 families who have done it. Some people will have issues with it but some people will have issues with lots of things and you just learn to live with it/ignore it. I'd prefer the portmanteau name to the hyphenated name as well. However, I'd consider changing my own name (and husband's name) to the portmanteau name too so that your whole family can have the same name. It would be a hassle up front to change your and your husband's names but it might save you from having more hassles later on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is all so weird. OP you played the race card. I think you have issues.

Race card? Huh? I mentioned that people choose names from their cultures that might be hard to pronounce but doesn't make them bad names- that could just as likely be Swedish or Bengali or Ethiopian. I think you are the one with issues.