Double-barrelled name
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In English-speaking and some other Western countries, a double-barrelled name is a family name with two parts, which may or may not be joined with a hyphen. An example of a hyphenated double-barrel surname is Bowes-Lyon; an example of an unhyphenated double-barrel surname is Vaughan Williams. The term is an analogy with double-barrelled shotgun.
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[edit] Formation
Double-barrelled names may be formed for a variety of reasons. Some are formed when the family names of two people are combined upon marriage or civil partnership, thus forming a new two-part surname, or when children are given surnames combining those of both parents. Double-barrelled names may also be used by children who are not brought up by their birth-parents to combine the surname of a birth-parent with that of an adoptive parent, or the surname of their biological father with that of a stepfather. Other families believe that the act of consistently passing on only the father's name is patriarchal in nature and choose double-barrelled names for feminist reasons. Same-sex couples may want to emphasise equality between partners. Children whose parent's divorce often have both surnames, by parents choice or their own choice if they are of the required age. To avoid the use of double-barreled surnames, a small number of couples create a new blended surname, combining parts of each name into one, such as Villaraigosa.
Among nobility, in the past especially, if a woman married down from her social status it was common for her and her husband to use a double-barrel name. This was done both so as not to diminish the social status of the woman and to gain for her husband a higher social status.
Double-barrelled names are sometimes adopted when the man has a common surname such as Smith or Jones which the couple want to avoid after marriage; hence double-barrelled names often incorporate a common surname. For instance, if Mary Howard married John Smith, they could choose to become Mary and John Howard-Smith (with the man's surname usually going second). In the vast majority of cases, though, they would simply opt for Mary and John Smith.
Some double-barrelled names are formed in order to prevent a family name otherwise dying out, due to the lack of males in a generation or when notable property is inherited through the female line with a stipulation that the individual inheriting use the family name.
For same-sex couples and their families, the presumptions of gender are irrelevant; many agree on one name or another (usually the more pleasing) without any preconceptions of which name should take precedence, or combine the two as a double-barrelled name.
In some Spanish-speaking countries, having a non-hyphenated double-barrelled surname is the norm, and in some cases (e.g., Spain) it is actually the law.
[edit] Upper-class families
A few upper-class families (e.g. Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe; Cave-Browne-Cave; Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound; Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby; Vane-Tempest-Stewart) have "triple-barrelled" surnames (sometimes created when one spouse has a double-barrelled name and the other has a single surname). Nowadays, such names are almost always abbreviated in everyday use to a single or double-barrelled version. There are even a few "quadruple-barrelled" surnames (e.g. Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, Stirling-Home-Drummond-Moray; Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax) and the surname of the extinct family of the Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos was the quintuple-barrelled Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville. Captain Leone Sextus Denys Oswolf Fraudatifilius Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache is sometimes quoted as the man with the most ever "barrels" in his surname (six), but in fact all but the last two of these (Tollemache-Tollemache) were forenames.
[edit] Written form
Many double-barrelled names are written without a hyphen. (This can cause confusion as to whether the surname is double-barrelled or not.) Notable persons with unhyphenated double-barrelled names include David Lloyd George, the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, Helena Bonham Carter, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies.
[edit] Practices by country
In Spain and some Latin American countries, everyone has a double-barrelled surname by law, although they are written without a hyphen and most people use only their first surname in everyday use. When a person is born, the custom is for them to take the first surname of the father and then the first surname of the mother. Thus, if Sr. Roberto Rodríguez Santana and Sra. Ana Zapatero Vilaseca have a son called Pedro, he would become Pedro Rodríguez Zapatero.
In Portugal, where most of the population have two to four surnames ("apelidos de família"), the practise of using a double combination of surnames is very common. The person can either use a paternal and a maternal surname combined (à là Aníbal Cavaco Silva) or use a double last name that has been passed down through one of the parents (António Lobo Antunes). The last surname (normally the paternal one), is usually considered the "most important", but people may chose to use another one, often favouring the more sonant or less common of their surnames in their daily or professional life (such as Manuel Alegre or José Manuel Barroso, who is known in Portugal by his double surname Durão Barroso). The use of more than two surnames in public life is less common, but not unusual (see Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen).
In France a recent practice has been to use two consecutive hyphens -- (not the same as a "long hyphen" or dash, or with a double hyphen) to distinguish between recently formed double barrelled names and ancient hyphenated family names (French: nom composé).
In Canada, especially Quebec, it has been common for children born since the 1960s to bear a double-barrelled name composed of both parents' names, with no established rules as to whether the father's or mother's name should come first. (In Quebec current provincial law and French Canadian custom, both spouses retain their original surnames upon marriage.) This was so prevalent that naming laws had to be amended in the early 1990s when those with double-barrelled began to marry, and wished themselves to give their children double-barrelled names. In such cases, any combination involving one element of the father's surname and one element of the mother's is permitted.
In Germany a double-barrelled name (German: Doppelname) is generally joined with a single hyphen. Other types of double-barrelled names are not accepted by restrictive German name law. However, exceptions are made for immigrants and for marriages where the double-barrelled name already was the official name of one partner before marriage.[citation needed] A 1993 law forbids anyone having more than two components in their surname.[1] Prior to this, it was permitted for adults (e.g. Simone Greiner-Petter-Memm and formerly Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann-Maier-Leibnitz[1]) but their children would not inherit the name.[1] The 1993 ban was upheld by the Constitutional Court in 2009.[1] The crew members of the famous First World War light cruiser SMS Emden were allowed to add the name Emden with a hyphen to their surname as a special honour.
In Switzerland double-barrelled names are traditionally written with a hyphen and combine the surnames of a married couple with the husband's surname at first place and the wife's at second. This doubled-barrelled name is called "alliance name"(German: Allianzname). The first name as such, however, is the official family name, which will be inherited by their legitimate children. So, for example, if Werner Stauffacher is married with Gertrud Baumgarten, both can use the name Stauffacher-Baumgarten. Their children Heinrich and Verena, however, bear only the surname Stauffacher. Prominent bearers of an alliance name are Micheline Calmy-Rey (Federal Minister for Foreign Affaires), Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (Federal Minister for Justice and Police) or Johann Schneider-Ammann (Member of the Federal Parliament). Lately, based on feminist pressure, wives have been permitted by law to place their maiden name before the family name. This double-barrelled name is written without a hyphen and is born by the wife only. So, in the example above, the wife's name is Gertrud Baumgarten Stauffacher, while her husband's name is Werner Stauffacher. Again, the children's names remain Heinrich and Verena Stauffacher.
In Poland a double-barrelled name (Polish: nazwisko złożone) is generally joined with a hyphen and by law includes only one hyphen. Polish surnames, Nazwisko, like those in most of Europe, are hereditary and generally patrilineal, i.e. passed from the father on to his children. A married woman usually adopts her husband's name. However, other combinations are legally possible. The wife may keep her maiden name (nazwisko panieńskie) or add her husband's surname to hers, thus creating a double-barrelled name (nazwisko złożone). A married man can also adopt his wife's surname, or add it to his.
[edit] References
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009) |
- Burke's Family Index
- Burke's Landed Gentry (various editions)
- Burke's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage (various editions)
- ^ a b c d Kirchner, Stephanie (6 May 2009). "German Court Upholds Ban on Extra-Long Names". Time. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1896443,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-19.
