Should I hyphenate my babies last name?

Question

I’m having a baby girl in August. My boyfriend and I have no plans on leaving one another, but I can’t help but wonder if I should hyphenate our babies last name. 
I’d partially like to do it to continue on my family name, but since she’s a girl her name could likely change down the road anyways if she were to get married. 
Please share opinions (especially if you have a hyphenated last name yourself).

Answer

I guess it depends on if you were to one day get married and if you wanted to change your name too. If you were to hyphenate your name when married the three of you would all have the same surname but still carry on both lines. How does your boyfriend feel about it?

Answer

I feel like I have heard from several mom friends it was easier to have the same last name. So for that reason they left their children’s name as their own until they got married and then just did the name change process for both their self and their child at the same time.

Answer

I thought about hyphenating my son’s name but decided not to. I was a teacher at the time and I noticed that when my students had hyphenated names, they only wrote one of their two last names on papers. I think oftentimes that’s what happens out of practicality. 
Ultimately we decided to give my son my last name as his middle name, and he has my husbands last name. If I have a daughter I will give her my first name as her middle name (family tradition) and my husband’s last name. For me, I do want to see some of my name reflected in my kids names but I’m perfectly happy using their middle names to do that.

Answer

It’s your choice tbh, my partner and I aren’t married but I like the tradition of them having the men’s surname

Answer

I voted no because I didn't hyphenated. If that's what you want to do though then go for it. I want my children to have their father's last name, but I also intend to change my last name to his at some point so we will all have the same surname anyway. I give my kids 2 middle names so having 2 surnames would make their names a bit too long.

Answer

People I know who grew up with hyphenated last names say it sucked because it was a lot of writing. It’s really up to both of you. You could always use your last name as a middle name. Or as someone suggested use your last name & change it if you guys get married. Changing a minor’s name may be hassle depending on where you live but it’s doable

Answer

My parents gave all of us my mom's maiden name as a second middle name.

Answer

My son has two last names. Mine and my husband’s. No hyphen. So far it hasn’t caused any problems but he’s only 2.5. If I were to do it over again I’d probably stick the hyphen in so it’s less confusing but it isn’t a big deal either way.

Answer

I would use my name until/if we got married, and then we could all change over. 
Hyphenating is reasonable too, as long as it sounds okay.

Answer

I’m married but didn’t take my husband’s name, and my baby is getting my last name only. Her second middle name will be my husband’s last name, probably (but he really doesn’t care).

Should I hyphenate my babies last name?

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