what do you think of double names?

[lizajane]

ok, silly poll. but i am considering a double name (like my cousin, anne marie) if we have a girl, and i can't decide if i really want to go through with it. would i have to finally admit that i am now a southerner?

[cara1]

What do you mean by double name?

[momma_boo]

I'm assuming she means someone who uses two-names as their first name. For example, the nurse practitioner at my internist's office is named Mary Beth.

Other ones I have heard: Emily Elizabeth (isn't that the name of the girl in Clifford?). I also knew a Sarah Jane once.

For some reason, I associate it with the southern region. Not pro or con about it, though.

[lizajane]

yes- esther was right!

i meant to say that in my original post. like my cousin, anne marie. i'll edit it.

[s7714]

The only issue I see with double names is that when you tell someone the name, they sometimes assume you're giving them a first AND middle name--they don't get that it's a double name. My DD doesn't really have a double name, but people sometimes think I'm saying her first name is Anna and middle name is Lia. I'm just guessing that true double names probably get the same response. I imagine in areas where double names are more common this is probably less of an issue though.

Jennifer
Mommy to Annalia 03/03/03

[MartiesMom2B]

I didn't say that I love them, but I do think that they are awfully cute. My friend's daughter is Stevie May and I adore that name. I had a teacher named Billie Sue, and I thought that was kind of icky (sorry if you are named Billie Sue or are related to a Billie Sue).

Sonia http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/character/1/character03.gif
Proud Mommy to Martie

[Tracey]

As a Southerner, I feel qualified to answer this one ;) . I like double names as long as the name consists of two recognizable female names. I can't STAND double names that include a male name or a family name. I find them highly pretentious. Here are a few I know/have known (some adults and some children). Keep in mind these are all first names and the names they go by:
Mary Patrick
Mary Austill
Ann Bennet
Mary James
Mary Inge
Ann Thomas

I can't imagine someone screaming your name in passion...MARY AUSTILL! Sorry for the TMI...just thoughts that run through my head.

[llcoddington]

I have an aunt named Betty Kay and an aunt named Jerry Sue. So very southern. My mom was happy to be named Charlotte!

Lana
mommy to Lauren 12/5/03

[MartiesMom2B]

ROFLMAO. Snort snort.
Sonia http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/character/1/character03.gif
Proud Mommy to Martie

[jasabo]

Love 'em! The top choice on my girls' names list was Emma Kate. Also, Tessa Kate and Emma Claire.... I STILL love those names. I guess it's a good thing we had two boys though, because dh hated all of them.

Anyway, I love double names as a first name :)

Lisa - mom to 1 yr old twin boys

[AvasMama]

It's definitely a Southern thing! I live in Alabama and it's very common here, but I rarely heard them when I lived in DC. Here are a few of the double-named girls I know:

Mary Parker
Mary Paige
Mary Allen
Mary Fitz
Sarah Jane
Laura Jane

Before Ava, the cutest little girl I had ever met was a 2-year-old named Anna Katherine. I thought that was a really cute name.

Robyn & Ava

[slknight]

I'm not a huge fan, but to each his own. I have recently done volunteer work with a woman whose name is "Marie Louise." I noticed that she is constantly correcting people about her name. She's also got a two-part last name - "St. ..." so I'm not sure anyone ever gets her name right.

A guy I used to date named his daughter Amy Jayne, which I actually think is kind of cute. And yes, he's southern. But I don't think a double name would be my first choice.

[sugarsnappea]

I am not a Southerner, but I chose to give DD a double name. It is uncommon in the area I live. We either call her Julia Grace or her nickname, Gracie. I do not refer to her as Julia, but everyone else whom I tell her name to does. I worry that this will get confusing as she enters school. But, those worries aside, I love her name, and hope she will too. I think most double names are great, except those with male names that the previous poster mentioned.

[MelissaTC]

Not only is it a southern thing, but I think it may be a Catholic thing as well. I went to school with a bunch of Mary _____ like Mary Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Mary Katherine...even my MIL is a Mary, Mary Ellen. None of these people are southern but they come from VERY Catholic families!

[ddmarsh]

Yes it is a Catholic thing, although not so much in recent years. I always loved Mary Katherine or Mary Elizabeth but when it actually came down to using one of those they somehow didn't seem like a good fit for our DD.

[Rachels]

I think it depends on the name. We have one we've considered, and it's cute. Anne Marie is lovely-- Jimmy Bob less lovely, KWIM?

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/character/2/character39.gif

"We have a secret in our culture...it's not that birth is painful, it's that women are strong!!" - Laura Stavoe Harm

[boys2enough]

Double names often make me visualize a setting and people similar in "Gone with the Wind." :) Sometimes they sound adroable and unique, like Emily Elizabeth in Clifford. :) I didn't realize that's a double name. I always thought for some reason, she goes by both first name AND middle name just to be different. (Like having a giant red dog is not enough? lol)

I have a silly qeustion here (actually several, all related though): So do you still get a middle name? So that means you will have 4 names? Will this be a problem when registering for, say, a driver's license?

The reason I ask about the driver's license is that, being Chinese, I have a hyphenated first name. I was told at Driver's license office that their computer system cannot do hyphen. I wonder whether they can do "space" for the first name.

Just curious. TIA!

Cheers, Lin
Mom to 2 wild boys
D 3/98
G 11/02

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/pnoodles.gif

[jubilee]

My oldest has two middle names. His second middle name is actually his birth lastname, but once he was adopted by my husband we made it a middle name. Anyway- the double middle name DOES pose problems. In most forms they only have one box for middle initial. Some people think it's a double last name instead of a double middle name. Anyway, I'd not do the double middle name again.

[C99]

I'm not entirely sure the practice is limited to southerners and Roman Catholics. My husband's family is neither and his grandmother had a double name -- Mary Beth -- although she only went by the Beth and my husband always assumed that it was short for Elizabeth; it was only when I talked to my GFIL that I learned that it wasn't.

[luvbeinmama]

I voted "who cares?" but I wouldn't say that I never notice! LOL!

My mom is Louise Ann, and thus goes by Lou Ann. I don't think it really is a pain for her as that is a very common double, though sometimes she gets is spelled as one word, like Luann. I have several Mary ___ cousins and my favorite Aunt was named Mary Alice. (Yes, a Catholic family!) Not always southern, Mom's family is from the MidWest. If you like it, I would at least put it in the running, and not discount it just because it is a double. I like double names.

[SeekerMage]

I voted that I love them. My sister is named Mary-Megan...one name and dont forget the hyphen...she gets quite upset. She has several people try and call her Mary or Megan but is quick to correct them. I think its such a neat idea to give your child a name that very few people will have....sucks when it comes to buying those cute personalized pens and such, but thats what special ordering is for!

[sweetbasil]

When pg w/Kellen, our girl's name was Annalee Serra (Anna being my paternal grandmother and Lee being my maternal, so we thought of it as a double name- though it doesn't look that way when typed out).

DS#1 has a little friend named Molly Grace, which I think is precious. She also has triplet sisters, and her daddy intends to use all their names as double names, but since their mommy is home w/them all day and has a hard enough time with single names, she's not planning to call them all by their first and middle. We know another little girl (also DS#1's age) named Ryan Kate. That's pretty original and really cute, too- but so is the little girl :)

[McQ]

Growing up in the south, I know tons of people with double names - including my mother and aunt. I would never use one personally, but that's just my opinion and I say to each his own.

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03
and number 2 EDD 9.14.04

[mharling]

Lin -
This may not answer your question, but.....
I have 2 middle names. When I got married, I kept my maiden name as a second middle name. It hasn't caused any problems, per se, but it's been interesting to see whose systems can handle it and whose can't. Social Security has it the correct way, so I guess that's what really matters.

Mary
Lane 4/03
#2 on the way!!!
http://lilypie.com/days/050302/0/0/1/-6/.png

[lizajane]

i think you don't get another middle name. and actually, my double name idea is a full first name and a full middle name BOTH shortened to make one double name. ok... here it is... it is easier to just tell. i don't know why i didn't already.

lillian catherine. lilly cate. (or lily cate?)

the other choice for her name is anne lillian. lilly. (lily?)

but somehow i got into the lillian catherine thing all of a sudden, even though i planned on anne lillian for YEARS. as in 8 years! as in before i met my husband!

[lizajane]

mary-
social security TOTALLY messed up my name when i kept all 4 names! they actually told me on the phone (when i called because our taxes got all messed up due to their error) that "because i DID NOT HYPENATE, they assumed i had a double last name, so the first of the two is my offial last name. HELLLLLLLLLLLLO. because i DIDN'T hypenate? isn't the hypen what MAKES it a double last name? annoying. i have to use my maiden name as my last name on all tax stuff because i have been too annoyed for 4 years to fix it!

[amp]

I think both versions are beautiful, but I'm partial to Lillan Catherine, because I like Lily Cate. That's really very melodic to my ear.

[Dcclerk]

I am literally snorting in my office with the door open reading this. That mental picture is priceless! :)

[mharling]

I LOVE Lillian Catherine and think Lily Cate sounds great!!! Just beautiful. :)

Mary
Lane 4/03
#2 on the way!!!
http://lilypie.com/days/050302/0/0/1/-6/.png

[MartiesMom2B]

I think the middle name thing is up to the parent. Stevie May has a middle name too.

I love Lilly Cate, it's so girly and dainty!

Sonia http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/character/1/character03.gif
Proud Mommy to Martie

[Puddy73]

I love Lilly Cate, too! We call DD by both her names, but I don't mind if people just call her Annabelle. I think it is more common in the South (we live in Georgia).

Jennifer
Mommy to Annabelle Mae 9/8/03

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

[boys2enough]

Ok, so I am an idiot. :P I didn't realize that when you say double name you mean you are calling your child by both the first name and the middle name (e.g. John Robert Hutchingson, and you call him John Robert), not that the child will have a 2-part first name, a middle name and then the last name (e.g. John Robert Clark Hutchingson).

Or am I still getting this wrong?

And I said I am an idiot in the beginning because, if it is really the first case, then, cough cough, I believe my DS1 has sort of a double name as well. lol. His middle name is Kai, and we love calling him by his first name and middle name together. We just don't introduce him to people that way. But some of our friends pick up on that and call him that sometimes as well.

BTW, I love the sound of Lilly Cate. It is adorable and unique. It sounds endearing and not pretentious at all. :)


Cheers, Lin
Mom to 2 wild boys
D 3/98
G 11/02

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/pnoodles.gif

[papal]

Ok, so i am confused too!
Is a double name the same as saying your first and middle name???
eg: Leela's middle name is Kaye, so would her double name be Leela Kaye Lastname?
OR is a double name an extra name
eg: Leela Kaye Monkey Lastname

Thanks!

[jbowman]

My twin sister is Jo Alice and she has always loved her name (I like it too, but have always called her simply Jo).

[boys2enough]

>Ok, so i am confused too!
>Is a double name the same as saying your first and middle
>name???
>eg: Leela's middle name is Kaye, so would her double name be
>Leela Kaye Lastname?
>OR is a double name an extra name
>eg: Leela Kaye Monkey Lastname
>
>Thanks!

Hi, Rashmi, thank you for being confused together with me. lol. Just want to tell you that I always thought that Leela is a pretty name. Now I think Leela Kaye sounds very very pretty as well. :) (Monkey will be a very unusual middle name though).

Hope somebody come soon and solve this mystery for us.


Cheers, Lin
Mom to 2 wild boys
D 3/98
G 11/02

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/pnoodles.gif

[parkersmama]

Chiming in late here but since I have a dd with a double name, I wanted to respond! :)

We really struggled with her name but ended up using the double name because Amy seemed too plain (for us) alone and Grace is getting very common. We liked the way it flowed and everyone seems to comment positively on it. Also, we love both names as single names so if she later decides to go by one or the other, we'll be okay with it although I really hope she'll keep them both. :) Of course, being in the south where women traditionally drop their middle name and use their maiden name as middle, it may make it harder on her. The other names we were considering were not double names.

And for those who were wondering, I think of a double name as the name you are called being two distinct names. If you are John Robert Hutchinson and called John Robert, then it's a double name. If you are John Robert Steven Hutchinson and you are called John Robert, then it's a double name. I think whether or not you add the 3rd name is totally parental preference. We didn't.

And, yes, she gets called "Amy" all the time. Even by people who know us well and hear us call her "Amy Grace" all the time (like our next door neighbors!). I usually just say, "We are calling her Amy Grace because we love both names so much" or something benign like that. Of course, the doctor's office never gets it right! I think they must deal with too many children to bother.

BTW, Liza, I love, love, love Lilly Cate! Adorable!!

[Melanie]

Hate is a strong word to me, so I didn't vote, but I do find them strange and very telling of one's southern heritage - LOL. I'm from the west so you don't hear them too often. It wouldn't be the worst thing to do to your child's name.