Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[calcaneous]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-barrelled_name

"...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, and for same-sex couples, to emphasise equality between partners..."



This is what I found from Wikipedia, but it doesn't explain why some people have hyphenated "first" names (i.e. Mary-Kate Olsen).

Why do some parents name their babies in this way?


Also, it seems that many of my friends from Quebec have this particular type of names. Why is that?

[EnglishRaven]

I do not have specific knowledge in name etymology or formation patterns, but I can tell you that - as far as I am aware - hyphenated first name combinations do not carry any particular meaning or serve any particular purpose (as you will find with double-barrelled surnames). Parents choosing them are doing so with the idea of it as one complete name.

Other names, like Annabelle, or Juliana, are also combinations of two names (or is it that they are older names that eventually became separated into two smaller varieties???), but they are not hyphenated.

As I said, I'm no expert in this field. All I can recommend is that you not assume there was a reason for the hyphenated first name selection other than regional or period-based naming trends.

Best,

- Jason
_________________
http://www.onlinEnglish.net
http://global-english.lefora.com

[pugachevV]

I think it's a cultural thing. I have noticed that in Quebec the francophones use quite a lot of hyphenated christian names. Jean-Claude, Marie-Josee, for example.