what will happen all these children with double barrelled names grow up and get married ...

[joko]

to other people with double barrelled names?

it is much more common than in the past...so more likely to happen often

quad-barrelled? four barrelled?

[boxtops]

Perhaps people will start getting married again so their children don't have combo-names

[MarkRae]

Er, what will happen to them? Perhaps they will explode...

[boxtops]

They'll certainly never get their names printed on one side only on their business cards...

[ELVIS68]

Do you mean first names or surnames?

[boxtops]

Good point elvis, I have noticed a load of birth announcements where the fist names are hyphenated too - Ellie-May and Tyson-Jaden ...etc

[boxtops]

^^ahem - first names

[Captin Kirk]

I think they mean misguided women who believe they lose their identity by getting married ...

[boxtops]

I don't think so captin, the multiple surnames are the girls who don't get married so their kids have a combined surname of both parents, who then marry others similarly named, so you end up Tyson-Robson-Hudson-Bloggs after all your grandparents

[Captin Kirk]

fair enough boxtops ...

[joko]

its a mix of reasons. imagine if first and second names were double as well! haha

i dont think its misguided to want to retain the name you have lived with all your life...its a somewhat outdated idea really...i wonder how many men would just change theirs?

[rowanwitch]

A colleague took his wifes name when they married a few years back it made sense as she was known and registered professionally by it he had brothers to carry on his family name....so every one was happy. I believe with two double barrels it is usual to take the females mothers name and the mans fathers to create a new two name combination or to use both from the male lines. Some feminists would prefer to use both from the female line especially where both parties have been raised by the mothers. This seems to make some sense and there is a logic to using matrilineal names if that is the correct term as in most cases that is the only half of the parentage one can be certain about.