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What Happens When Looney-Warde Marries Butts-McCracken?
It was bound to happen. With so many people hyphenating their children’s last names, it was only a matter of time before these hyphenates wanted to get married. Then what do you do?
One woman in Germany found out when she tried to triple-hyphenate her name, combining her own (single) last name with her husband’s hypenated name. The answer?
No dice.
Germany’s highest court ruled on this case, which involved dentist Frieda Rosemarie Thalheim-Kunz-Hallstein. At least, that’s what she wanted to call herself. The court, however, said she couldn’t. According to the court, triple hyphenating a name “lessened the impact of a name to do what it was supposed to do, namely ‘to identify.’”
The court apparently also feared of setting a dangerous precedent, to which I say, gimme a break! Hyphenated surnames are hard enough. Who would want to bother with the complexities of having a triple-barrelled name? How would you fill out government forms? What would your coach call you (Jones-Murphy-Goldstein, give me 20, doesn’t quite carry the same authoritative snap)? And if combining hyphenated surnames became the norm, it wouldn’t be long until Mary Jones-Murphy-Goldstein married John Smith-Brown-Flynn, and then what would their poor children do?
Apparently there are very strict naming laws in Germany to prevent such travesties, which is why this case went to court in the first place. Parents must choose from a list of government-approved names, and if they desire a different name, they must appeal to authorities. German law allows married couples to take one of their existing surnames, combine the two with a hyphen, or keep their own names.
I haven’t heard of any multi-hyphenate names here in the states, though I suppose it’s bound to happen (if it hasn’t already). So what should happen when a hyphenate marries a hyphenate?
Any ideas?
Photo: Maxim (click for more hilarious hyphenates)
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2 Comments
skelly commented on Jul 23 11 at 11:14 amI have a hyphenated last name, my partner has a single last name, and we chose to hyphenate for our child. To the best of my knowledge, a three way hyphenate was not allowed. In fact when we gave her a last name consisting of the first of my two last names conjoined with her father’s last name we had it rejected, then had to lie and tell the government that she had a different last name from both her parents for ‘religious reasons’ just to keep her last name the combination we’d settled on. On top of the legality, when we hyphenate our children’s names we need to anticipate the possibility of our grandchildren not having our name at the end of the day. I made the decision on which of my two last names to pass on to my daughter by A. taking into account which side I was closest with and would spend the most time with my child and B. counting cousins and figuring out which side had the most possibility of having children carry on the family name, then chose the other. I ended up passing on my mother’s name and it caused/causes major tension with my father’s family when in reality I had little to no choice in the matter. Just something to keep in mind with hyphenates.
skelly commented on Jul 23 11 at 11:18 amP.S. I know several parents who have chosen to give one parent’s last name as a middle name to get around the hyphenate regulations. For example, if Billy Smith-Jones and Betty Brown-Johnson have a baby, they may choose to name the child Johnny Smith Jones Brown-Johnson as a way to include all families involved. Although that raises even more issues for the next generation down, it is an option a few folks I know have tried out.
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