# Couples Who Should Not Hyphenate Their Names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 22, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671 "2008-02-22T02:43:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/1 "2008-02-22T02:43:59Z")
See [here](http://www.jibjab.com/view/172390). Indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/2 "2008-02-22T08:23:00Z")
If I was Hardy and was marrying a Harr, I’d totally get our names hyphenated. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/3 "2008-02-22T11:17:00Z")
Even better would be if Hardy was a polygamist who married the two Harr sisters. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/4 "2008-02-22T12:44:40Z")
[QUOTE=F. U. Shakespeare] Even better would be if Hardy was a polygamist who married the two Harr sisters. [/QUOTE] And more so if they were also friends with Lippy The Lion. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/5 "2008-02-22T13:48:45Z")
Some of those are laugh out loud funny - thanks! Traylor-Hooker indeed. Seeing them in actual wedding announcements somehow made them that much funnier. My wife and I don’t have names that combine to any known word - but they sound absolutely ludicrous together - when she was pregnant with our first child and people asked what we would do about the names (she uses her maiden name professionally) it always led to a silly discussion… ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/6 "2008-02-22T15:02:02Z")
Consider this… if your last name is already Crapp, I think you’ve already hit rock-bottom, hyphenated or not. Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/7 "2008-02-22T15:56:50Z")
A week or so ago I kept hearing promos for Bob Edwards’ show, in which a man was interviewed whose father edited a small-town newspaper in, I think, Wisconsin. The bite they played featured the intervewee saying that his dad’s paper covered small towns like Normal and Oblong, "… so he got to write headlines like ‘Oblong Woman Marries Normal Man.’ " I laughed out loud every time I heard it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a698b9/32.png) [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/8 "2008-02-22T16:24:36Z")
I am hysterical here! I have tears running down my face. My dog is worried about me. **WordMan** , can you share what your names are (or is that not advised on here)? Thanks for the laugh! ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/9 "2008-02-22T16:53:20Z")
Jay Leno, in his weekly “Headlines” segment, features wedding announcements periodically. He always saves up a good batch so that the cumulative effect is even better. Some are just unbelievable – don’t people THINK about the effect their combined names will have in print? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/10 "2008-02-22T16:59:15Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Tiger] Jay Leno, in his weekly “Headlines” segment, features wedding announcements periodically. He always saves up a good batch so that the cumulative effect is even better. Some are just unbelievable – don’t people THINK about the effect their combined names will have in print? [/QUOTE] Well, I suspect that the newspaper editors choose to put them in an order that is funny. If they had chosen “Harr-Hardy” or “Hooker-Traylor”, no one would have thought a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/11 "2008-02-22T17:44:14Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Well, I suspect that the newspaper editors choose to put them in an order that is funny. If they had chosen “Harr-Hardy” or “Hooker-Traylor”, no one would have thought a thing. [/QUOTE] I agree. Some of those list the woman’s name first and some the man’s. There’s no standard order used so it seems they are listed in the most humorous order. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/12 "2008-02-22T17:51:01Z")
[QUOTE=Ellen Cherry] A week or so ago I kept hearing promos for Bob Edwards’ show, in which a man was interviewed whose father edited a small-town newspaper in, I think, Wisconsin. The bite they played featured the intervewee saying that his dad’s paper covered small towns like Normal and Oblong, "… so he got to write headlines like ‘Oblong Woman Marries Normal Man.’ " I laughed out loud every time I heard it. 🙂 [/QUOTE] A little south of where I grew up is a town by the name of Big Ugly, leading to headlines like “Big Ugly woman injured in accident.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/13 "2008-02-22T17:56:41Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Tiger] Jay Leno, in his weekly “Headlines” segment, features wedding announcements periodically. He always saves up a good batch so that the cumulative effect is even better. Some are just unbelievable – don’t people THINK about the effect their combined names will have in print? [/QUOTE] So, they’re not supposed to get married because their names coincidentally form some risible combination? Remember, wedding announcements are often labeled with “HERFAMILYNAME-HISFAMILYNAME” regardless of whether the couple is actually going to hyphenate. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/14 "2008-02-22T18:05:33Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Remember, wedding announcements are often labeled with “HERFAMILYNAME-HISFAMILYNAME” regardless of whether the couple is actually going to hyphenate. [/QUOTE] That would be great if her name was O’Penn and his was Barre. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/15 "2008-02-22T18:08:59Z")
[QUOTE=Rascal’s Mom] I am hysterical here! I have tears running down my face. My dog is worried about me. **WordMan** , can you share what your names are (or is that not advised on here)? Thanks for the laugh! [/QUOTE] I just prefer not to do it - still posting Old School, I guess 🙂 . Let’s just say that when we string them together, the word they most sound like is \*\*Farfegnugen \*\* - that silly-ass word Volkswagen tried to market as cute and sporty… Oh, and I always assumed that these are mainly for announcements and those most couples are not going with double-barrelled names…but they are still hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/16 "2008-02-22T18:11:35Z")
There’s a dual gravestone in Orlando that reads “Raper - Farless.” ---
**Author:** ![Barrels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Barrels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrels)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/17 "2008-02-22T22:32:32Z")
I am getting married in August. We will not be hyphenating our last names, no one would ever be able to keep a straight face if we did. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/18 "2008-02-22T23:10:22Z")
I once had an hysterical time standing in a check out line with a very funny woman. Some how during our ten minute wait, I found out her married name was Bologna. Her maiden name was Malarkey. Two totally awesome names. Fated to be together. If my married last name was CRAPP, I would so give my children names that began with an O. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/19 "2008-02-22T23:34:54Z")
The _National Lampoon_ used to print these. I remember **Ball-You** (Ms. You was Korean), **Dickman-Cockman, Franks-Beers, Love-Organ,** and **Good-Loser**. **Pizza-Topping** , unfortunately, was not a wedding, but two obituaries run side by side. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671/20 "2008-02-22T23:34:43Z")
doublepost on correction; mods, please delete; thx [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couples-who-should-not-hyphenate-their-names/438671.md?page=2)