I have a friend from Colombia who has two surnames. I think it’s the norm there.
I know in Sweden you are only allowed two surnames if you are of hispanic descent. I don’t think they allow hyphenated names. In Germany the first and middle name must be approved by the government. Such a strange concept to an American!
My son’s group of friends includes Timothy, Isaac, Malachi, Joshua and David.
Angus is Gaelic. Angus Young, the AC/DC guitarist, is Scot.
My sIL is Columbian, she has only one last name, but I don’t know how many middle names!
Is Angus beef then originally a Scottish breed?
Yes two surnames is common in Hispanic cultures. Women dont change their names and kids get one from each parent.
I watch a lot of tennis so I’m very used to names with different spellings depending on where the players are from.
As far as the two surnames - I recall after Arxanta Sanchez won a few Grand Slams she wanted to honor her mom so started adding her mom’s maiden name to her name and became Axranta Sanchez Vicario. No hyphen and her mom’s name was put after her father’s last name. According to wiki her full name is Aránzazu Isabel María “Arantxa” Sánchez Vicario and Spanish naming custom is Paternal family name followed by Maternal family name.
Yes, Angus cattle are originally from Aberdeenshire & Angus counties in Scotland. They are known as Aberdeen Angus in most parts of the world.
I’m already practicing keeping my mouth shut for when my kids start having babies. My nieces and nephews have several adorable offspring, but I am not fond of any of their names (except maybe Kate, which is pretty neutral in my book).
Oh, and speaking of “juniors”, my family is up to IV. He (my nephew) just got married last week, and I assume that his first born son will be V. He is actually the sixth descendent with the same name, they just weren’t all in the same order and everyone in the family is still mad at the great-grandfather who gave his son a different middle name (same first name). I’m just glad that I’m a girl. Silly tradition!
romani, according to the link in 331, Hispanic women often do change their names. The first surname remains the same (which would be her father’s), but the second surname would be that of her husband. But she is known primarily by her first surname if I am understanding that correctly. And some Hispanic women do choose not to change their name at marriage.
I don’t know anyone who goes by Kate or Katie who isn’t really a Katherine.
megpmom, Maybe your nephew will be the one to break the chain. You never know. His wife may have something to say about the name! Congratulations on your nephew’s wedding. I’ll be curious to see what
my son’s friends that are III and IV’s will do if they have boys.
I wasn’t either! I never heard the Peter reference growing up. 
My stepdad was a LATE baby to his parents, who were both born in the late 19th century. His mother’s name was Edna Olga. When he told me this, I said, “Hmmm. Well, maybe that was a pretty name back in those days.” Stepdad said, “No, that was never a pretty name. She hated it.”
Both Peter and Willie were taunted on our playground back in the day.
I was 15 in 1972. But I dont remember anyone being teased for a name that has been used for a euphemism for body parts. I, like Julianne Moore, was called " freckle face strawberry" as a kid, but that was by one of my teachers, & I’m sure he thought he was being cute.
I doubt if any one teased Randy Johnson, not more than once anyway.
Our local high school team is called the " Beavers",
and I am sure they * are* occasionally teased about that, but they don’t want to change it.
The reason I mentioned Tyfannee and LaFawnduh was to give hypothetical examples of names that would probably not be associated with higher class/educated people. I was trying to think of a white “stripper” name (Tiffany), and then made up a “creative” spelling.(If anyone didn’t know, LaFawnduh is a character from Napoleon Dynamite.)
While trying to figure out why I was being called racist for using these names, I googled Tyfannee and found that there is a black model/actress with that exact same spelling. (I honestly was trying to be racially balanced and thought of Tiffany of any spelling as a “white” name. . .I even tried out different spelling to see which looked the most creative!)
So if you want to replace Tyfannee with Tiffany (or Lacey, Jolene, Candi Sue, Amberleigh, Ellie May, Honey Boo Boo, etc.) go right ahead. My point is that all parents need to consider possible negative/limiting connotations of the names they choose.
There’s a local TV reporter in philly named “Jennaphr”
It always looks like a typo to me
My dad “misspelled” both my first and middle names on my birth certificate (according to my mother). Both spellings are acceptable alternative spellings but I do have to spell them out all the time. I’ve just gotten used to it. And I’ve also gotten used to responding to all sorts of variations of my first name. I don’t exactly like my first name, but it’s mine!
My dad doesn’t have a middle name. On some forms in the space for a middle name he’s written “none”. Of course, you know what’s listed as his middle name.
It’s sort of fun to think of last names that just can’t be paired with certain first names… like Barbie Dahl. Or the story of Kate Forna who when listed last name, first name is…
Pizzagirl…funny you mention this. My niece was given the legal name at birth of Katie. (it defies logic) She is now in her 30’s and has requested to be called Katherine!