The double-barrelled name is often used to keep a family name from dying out
on the female side if there are no males to carry it on. It's also used for
effect (sounds a bit posher than just one name). Or it's used to lose a
name.
I once worked for a man who's surname was Bone. You can imagine the things
he was called as a child - "Old boney" "Skeleton" "Them dry bones" "Jolly
Roger" (from the pirate skull and cross bones), and various others, which he
hadn't liked. So when he married a lady with the name Harris, he decided to
use the name Harris-Bone for about 5 years, and then he dropped the Bone
part and was just know as Harris. Think it offended his masculinity to take
just his wife's name on marriage.
Another family I knew were "Hooker-Holt" - Father Hooker, mother Holt - long
before it became acceptable to use the wife's name only. They didn't want
their daughters (if they had any) to be known as Hookers, so went for the
double-barrelled version. The girls could then choose to keep one part, both
parts or change to their husband's name on marriage if they wanted.
Jean in Poole Dorset, UK
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