As a teacher, I spend countless hours correcting spelling and punctuation of my students’ papers. But one reader wonders, are there spelling and punctuation rules when it comes to baby names?
Renata writes:
I was wondering what you thought about names that are hyphenated, such as Anna-Simone over Anna Simone, or Samantha-Rose over Samantha Rose. Also, I was wondering what you thought about taking a common name (Sophia) and using a less common spelling (Sofia). Thanks!
First of all, congratulations are in order. Renata recently had a baby girl whom she named Sofia, choosing the less common Russian spelling in honor of her Russian heritage.
As far as double-barreled names go, like Anna-Simone or Samantha-Rose, they’re not my personal style. That doesn’t mean they’re bad for someone else to use. I just didn’t grow up around them, so to me it seems like an awful lot of name for everyday use. I’d be more inclined to use Samantha as the first name and Rose as the middle and then call her either Samantha or Samantha Rose depending on my mood.
For those who do like double-barreled names, there are advantages and disadvantages to the hyphen. The hyphen obviously makes it more clear that the name is intended to be said as a single unit. Without the hyphen, Samantha Rose is slightly more likely to turn into plain old Samantha. However, many computerized forms and programs do not recognize punctuation in personal names, so if you pick the hyphenated Samantha-Rose, your daughter might have the complication of being Samantha-Rose in some contexts and Samantha Rose in others. She might also be frustrated that her name appears punctuated incorrectly on most official documents.
If forced to choose, I would tentatively come down on the no hyphen side. I’d like to hear readers’ opinions on this one, though, especially those who know people with double-barreled names.
Spelling is a hotly-debated issue among name enthusiasts. I’ve heard many argue that choosing an uncommon spelling makes your child’s name “more unique,” while others claim choosing any but the most common spelling will make your child hate you because she’ll have to spell it out to everyone she meets. I disagree with both positions.
There are times it’s perfectly reasonable to use a less common alternate spelling. Some good reasons for picking a variant spelling:
- It honors your heritage (e.g., choosing Sofia over Sophia if you’re of Latin or Russian descent)
- It honors a namesake (e.g., choosing Katharine over Katherine in honor of Ms. Hepburn)
- It’s a legitimate, historically-attested spelling that you happen to prefer aesthetically (e.g., choosing Isobel over Isabelle because you like its spare look)
It’s also reasonable to choose a variant spelling when it helps to simplify the pronunciation of a very foreign-looking name, though I’d advise parents to be cautious when doing this. For example, I don’t fault those who pick the Anglicized Neve over the original Irish Niamh, especially in the U.S. where Niamh is unfamiliar. However, be careful when doing this that you’re not causing the name to lose all its grace. Caoimhe is another Irish moniker almost impossible for most Americans to pronounce correctly, but Keeva looks less sophisticated, at least to my eyes. Also, be sure you’re not catering to cultural illiteracy by choosing an “easier” spelling. For example, there’s no reason Chloe and Zoe should ever have to be spelled as Kloey and Zoey. Educated people should know how to pronounce Zoe. Have high aspirations for your child: assume she will someday mingle among an educated set. And if people don’t know how to pronounce your child’s name? Well, then, your child can educate them.
Of course, there are times it’s a bad idea to use a variant spelling. Some thoughts on when NOT to go the alternate spelling route:
- Choosing an uncommon spelling of a common name does not make the name less common. If you like Isabella but are bugged by its top-10 status, don’t name your child Izabella. They sound exactly the same. If there are two Isabellas in your daughter’s first grade class, they’ll still either be Isabella D. and Izabella M. or Isabella-with-an-S and Izabella-with-a-Z. If it’s a unique name you’re craving, choose something uncommon in its own right (like Mirabella). And if you really love Isabella, just name your daughter Isabella.
- Inventing your own spelling is usually a bad idea. It often comes off looking somewhat illiterate. I once heard of someone considering Kalub for her son, and it made me think of some of the T-shirts I used to see around my college campus. You see, I went to UC Berkeley, commonly known as Cal, and our rival school was Stanford. We would mock them by wearing “Stanfurd sucks” on our shirts, and they’d mock us by spelling our name as “Kal.” By misspelling the names, we were implying that the students at the rival school were illiterate and stupid. When I heard of that poor parent considering Kalub, I couldn’t help but think that she was incorporating both the K from Kal and the U from Stanfurd into her child’s name, to much the same effect.
- Be aware that newly-invented alternate spellings (especially those using K-substitution and and Y-substitution) are very trendy right now. In 20 years’ time, Isabella and Caleb might not be fashionable, but they’ll still be classic. Izzybella and Kaleb will look dated and probably downright silly.
I’d love to hear readers’ thoughts on hyphens and spelling for baby names. Do you have any other baby name grammar rules you’d like to share?
What an interesting post!
My sister is named Mary-Helen, after my grandmother, Mary Helen (double-barreled, but without the hyphen). My mom chose it for her because MH Senior hated it when people would call her “Mary.” I think this could be a good idea, and she’s never had much problem with it, but I’m still fairly neutral. My sister never writes her name with the hyphen anyway, and it doesn’t seem to bother her.
The double-barrel debate is an interesting one. I think there are a few considerations:
First, as you’ve mentioned, hyphens don’t exist in most databases in the US. While this is a silly reason to choose or avoid a name, it is worth recognizing that BOTH Mary Anne and Mary-Anne both have to grapple with being listed as Mary A. in many official records. Only Marianne is exempt from the challenge.
Second, I think the total number of syllables matters. Anna-Simone tops out at four syllables – that’s pushing it, but you’d still probably get most people to use her full name, sans nickname. But Alexandra-Elisabeth? Oliver-William? Andrea-Cecily? Don’t bother. Over four syllables, it seems quite likely that your second name will be dropped. (Even if you’re consistent, her friends will probably rebel.)
Lastly, if one of the names you’re hyphenating or otherwise planning to use in a pair is common, that’s to your advantage. Mary-Blake, for example, would fare better than Oceane-Blake.
So … it depends. It’s just like nearly any out-of-the-ordinary naming choice. You might have some bumps along the way, but if that’s your name for your child, so be it.
I think hyphenated names can be ok if you really want to keep them together. For instance, I’ve really wrestled with Stella Maris, Stella-Maris and Stellamaris. For keeping the whole name intact as one, the hyphen seems the best compromise to me. I think you have to look at how important it is to you to keep the names together, whether or not they could be combined some other way, and the total length of the combined name (to say and to write).
Two of my older kids have hyphenated last names, which is a little different, but has some of the same practical problems.Some of the hyphens get lost, but I think my kids would say that you have to look at the combined length of the name and think about how your kids will feel about having the end of their name lopped off on every computer printout they get at school. A Mary-Elizabeth may constantly have to see her name as “Mary-Elizabe” on pre-printed forms.
Yay I got featured. =) Thanks for your input!
But to voice my opinion, I prefer not hyphenating. One of my older daughters name is Anna and her middle name is Simone, but she’s always Anna Simone.
My boyfriend’s friend named his daughter Mary-Lou. I prefer Marylou, because I think the hyphen complicates things. Is it possible to have two names as a first name, legally? I filled out the paperwork to name my sister’s twin girls and it didn’t seem like there was room. I was afraid if I ever decided to do the whole two names as a first name thing, for example Luna Belle, Luna would be accidentally recorded as her legal first name and Belle as her middle. Is it possible to have two legal first names without the hyphen?
I wouldn’t use a hyphen, because of what you mentioned about computer forms and programs, and because the second name usually gets dropped anyway. I’d leave a double barrel name for a middle, since it doesn’t tend to complicate things that way.
As for spelling, I’m completely with you here. I’m not very concerned about popularity, personally – obviously, I would prefer a unique name over a common one, but when it comes down to it the popularity status of a name wouldn’t be a big factor in considering whether to use it or not for me. I usually go with the traditional spelling unless there’re another acceptable one I prefer.
I have a nephew who’s now 17, will be 18 in November. His middles are hyphenated and he’s found, much to his chagrin, they HAVE to stay together on all legal forms! And his first name is four syllable Alexander. So he’s talking to his parents about legally changing his name to get rid of that hyphen. He complains that it’s a major headache on anything school related and that it will probably be as much a headache in college. I think he’s right. I don’t hyphen myself and probably never will. It just seems like a hassle, to me.
So glad to see you back, I have missed your blogs. I was wondering where you had been.
I personally think that hyphens are unnecessary and pointless. My Grandmother Billie Jean was always called by both names and never had a problem with it not having a hyphen. She had friends who had double barreled names, also not hyphened (Mary Lou for example) and they too never had a problem with it.
Personally, I have a hard time getting on board with the whole idea of double names in general. With a few exceptions, most double names are no more than the sum of their parts. If I was forced to pick a double name, I would keep the two “parent” names short and move them together to create one name. For example, I prefer Annemarie over Anne-Marie. I feel the hyphen looks cluttered and creates administrative headaches as others have mentioned. Anne Marie isn’t really a double name in my mind but rather a first and middle name.
I did spot an interesting double name recently, while out in Michigan last week. I visited a winery owned by a family who must have been obsessed with the name Chantal. The winery was named Chateau Chantal, and they named their daughter Marie-Chantal. Perhaps this was a way for the parents to pair the more unusual Chantal with the familiar Marie. Nevertheless, if I liked Chantal enough, I would just go all out and use Chantal as the given name. If I had reservations about Chantal being usable, which I don’t, I would go with Marie and the middle name Chantal.
Just to add my 2¢, I think that it would be best to use a first-middle name combo and not try for 2 “first names”. That way, forms and such are easier… and you can always call you daughter Bethany Rose as her common, every day name and ask that others do also. Plus, you could use 2 middle names without as much headache as trying to use 2 first names!
I’m much more hesitant about a double first name than a double middle name. My middle name is hyphenated and I haven’t had major issues: mainly computers sometimes smoosh the names together to make one middle name. After I was married and went to the DMV to get my married name (which is also hyphenated) on my license I got my middle name corrected and the hyphen included. BUT most computers and forms only have space for a middle initial so it makes no difference how many characters come after the first or whether the middle name includes any punctuation.
I agree with Emmy Jo’s reasons to use an alternate spelling but want to emphasize those are legitimate reasons to use a less common spelling, not just adding, switching, or changing letters purely for the reason of making the name “different” or “unique”!
Not so much interested in first names with hyphens but very interested in last names.
The mother did not take the father’s name when they got married – she kept her maiden name – the father’s name is Smith and the mother’s name is Brown and they named the baby Smith-Brown – when you look at this last name without prior knowledge what would you say the father’s name would be?
Call me old-fashioned but to me the children should have the father’s last name. If there has to be a hyphen should not the proper way be Brown (for the mother)-Smith (for the father)?
Thanks for your input/comments
I believe it is most traditional in hyphenated last names to put the mother’s name first and then the father’s, as it sort of “mirrors” the old fashioned practice of using the mother’s maiden name as a child’s middle name. At least, the names would appear in the same order. In the olden days, a child might have been Henry Brown Smith, but now he’d be Henry Alexander Brown-Smith.
However, I’ve seen couples do it both ways. In my mind, if the names clearly sound better in a certain order, it’s fine to put them in whichever order one pleases. Though I assume you’re using made-up last names here, to give you an example of what I’m talking about, Brown-Smith sounds a bit like a compound word (e.g., blacksmith, silversmith, brownsmith) or an adjective modifying a noun (perhaps describing a dark-skinned metalworker), so I can see why a couple might prefer Smith-Brown. The preference can also be based on rhythm. For example, to my ears, a last name like Sinclair-Grey sounds more complete, while the order Grey-Sinclair sounds more open-ended. Depending on the first and middle names of the child, one order might sound far more pleasing than the other.
Your comment seems to ascribe to the sound of the naming when hyphenating the last name. What about the credit to the father’s family name and the heritage of lineage? The child has a middle name so one of the names would not be used as the middle name, just as a hyphenated surname with the mother’s name last. Would not people look at that last part of the name and consider that that was the father’s name?
Often the people who choose to hyphenate their children’s last names are NOT concerned with traditional gender roles so they might care equally about passing on both the mother’s and the father’s heritage.
You are completely right that it’s more traditional in the U.S. to put the mother’s name first. However, now-a-days there are so many reasons families might choose to hyphenate last names. A child in a blended family might have the surname of both a father and a new stepfather. A child adopted in late childhood might keep his original surname and add on that of his adoptive parents. A child of a same-sex couple might wear both their surnames. I don’t think it’s safe to assume anymore that the last part of a hyphenated name is the father’s last name.
Interestingly enough, in some areas of Latin America it’s the law for everyone to have two surnames, though they’re usually written without a hyphen. The father’s surname goes first and then the mother’s, so the traditional order is opposite to ours.
For more information on double-barrelled naming practices throughout the world:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-barrelled_name
I was born in Nicaragua. My father is from the US and my mom is from Nicaragua. And in all my Nicaraguan ID where the 2 last names are required (including my birth certificate) my father’s name always comes first. So to hear the discussion that the mother’s name should come first seems backwards to me! Interesting how our cultural background shapes our thinking.
I am now expecting my first child. My husband is Canadian and I now live in Canada with him. I am now looking for names that are not “too strange” in English or in Spanish. That way both sides of the family will be able to to pronounce them!
That sounds fun! May I help
Amelia, Emma, Emily, Ella, Isabella, Aurora, Tara, Lila, Eliza, Mariah, Maria, Aaliyah, … I noticed the date is 2009 so I’ll stop here lol
.
Personally, I prefer AnneMarie or SamanthaRose over both alternatives. Although it does have some of the same computer problems as the hyphen. Nymbler automatically changes them to Annemarie and Samantharose.
As far as the hyphenated last name thing goes, I like the idea of it, but it seems like one of the names tends to get dropped. My fiancé and I didn’t want to use just one or the other so we toyed with the idea of using something completely different, but decided against it. Now we are planning on smushing our last names. For example, if they were Robot and Grimm, they would become Grimbot.