All the different family surnames

MarieEllathere may be a backstory to children having double barrelled names there certainly is in my grandchildren having two surnames Its not been done for fashion or anything else

I found it relatively easy tracing ancestry both maternal and paternal family historybecause they are not common surnames. When you try to trace some very highly used surnames its very hard, the further you go back you realise how small the gene pool was.
Cannot see the point of a double barrel surname, how far do you take that, if it was a name I wanted my child to have it would be another Christian name. You can choose not to change your name on marriage then what surname would your child have? I was happy for my children to have my husbands surname although we subsequently divorced. I dread to think of the amount of children who were raised by non biological children without knowing so in reality its more reliabl taking the mothers.

If two double barreled people produced children would they then end up with quadruple barreled names. Things could get out of hand ...

missdeke

If two double barreled people produced children would they then end up with quadruple barreled names. Things could get out of hand ...

Remember Lady Jane Antonia Frances Vane-Tempest-Stewart?
Fancy writing that in your school books!

I think she married and became Lady Jane Rayne, after she was widowed she married Robert Lacey (the biographer).

My mum had a double barrelled name as she was adopted. My birth grandmother died when my mother was age 2 so she took her real parents surname name and her adopted parents surname.

missdeke

If two double barreled people produced children would they then end up with quadruple barreled names. Things could get out of hand ...

They'll do like the Spanish, who've had lots of double barrelled surnames for yonks. My son knows the rules, but basically you take one from the Mum's name and one from the Dad's name to make the double-barrelled name for the children.

My great grandfather (Thomas) had sons called Thomas and Edward then married again long after his wife died. They had two more sons called Thomas and Edward.

i had to use two names at school depending on who i was staying with, if it was my mum then it was my step dads name and if my gran then my real dads name, some teachers would make a joke about it saying things like....so what name are we using now?

I heard that the local unstuffy aristocracy confused the village school because the parents used their titled name (earl and countess of ... ) the elder son his courtesy title (viscount ... ) and the other children the family surname.

Macaydia

Birth certificate always have parents names. It doesnt ask if they're married. I believe marriage is a religious tradition.

I do notice women these days are less likely to change their name with the argument they are not property or just for professional career reasons.

Birth certificates don't always have parents names, both parents have to be present when the birth is registered to have their names on it. My 3 children have no father named on their birth certificates because he refused to go with me to register them.

Mattsmum2

I’m getting married again this year and when we saw the registrar we had to give the names of our parents and their occupations for the marriage certificate. My husband to be couldn’t remember his fathers middle name. It turns out when we checked he didn’t have one. His mother now deceased had the same first name of Mary as her sister. She used her middle name as her preferred name. Why would you give two children in the same family the same first name! They were a highly religious family.

We’ve given notice to marry. You don’t have to give your parents’ names. I did, OH hasn’t.

Aveline

I had great difficulty trying to trace my family tree. So many had the same surnames on both sides and everyone seemed to be called John or Margaret. I gave up. We're just too boring!

A random discussion with another Hansell (on a completely different subject and connection) elicited the fact that she lived just a few miles from my cousin, although they both arrived there from totally different sources.
Further, that she did not think we were related as her family came from Norwich and mine to London via Shropshire. However, when I got back 4 generations lo and behold, we WERE from Norwich. Sadly though, I could not pin down which of the six Johns were my ancestor, all born around the same time in neighbouring parishes!

It still goes on. I worked at DVLA. Those of you who drive will have a number that is the first 5 of your surname, your DOB in code an your first 2 initials. There is then a tie breaker of 9 to 2, then a-y leaving out I and O, so if yours is 9 you are unique. However, it took just 35 minutes for the first J Smith born on 2 dates in 1952 to run out of tie breakers, when we loaded the data in. And within 3 days there were many multiples.
Then the fun one of unpicking driving offences between James and John, twin sons of John born on his 30th birthday! (It wasn't me m'lud, 'twas 'im)

My one great alternative was buying a leasehold property ( the names of the original lessees are included - one Miss Aurania, Aolia, Evangelina Smith - her parents had imagination

My DS has my surname and we gave my partner then DH's name as his middle name telling. him he was free to change it if he wanted later. He didn't, DiL wanted to take his name, so I have plenty of my name going on down: tho it rather depends on DGC.
But my now ex partner has brothers with children in his name so it didnt disappear.

It was the 1980's but I couldn't bear to lose my name nor when I re-married later. It just felt weird.