# Too Mundane for GQ: The Same Last Name, Hyphenated **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 2, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586 "2009-01-02T13:38:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/1 "2009-01-02T13:38:29Z")
Let’s say that Genevieve Stapleton falls in love with and marries Cuthbert Stapleton, to whom she is not directly related. Genevieve, having feminist tendencies not unlike those of Hillary Rodham Clinton, wants to keep her maiden name in her last name. Would she therefore be known as Genevieve Stapleton-Stapleton? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/2 "2009-01-02T13:52:49Z")
Yes if she was a pretentious twat. People will do anything, so I don’t know why this won’t happen eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/3 "2009-01-02T13:55:16Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Let’s say that Genevieve Stapleton falls in love with and marries Cuthbert Stapleton, to whom she is not directly related. Genevieve, having feminist tendencies not unlike those of Hillary Rodham Clinton, wants to keep her maiden name in her last name. Would she therefore be known as Genevieve Stapleton-Stapleton? If she’s such a feminist, then why would she want to change her name at all? She would just keep her maiden name. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/4 "2009-01-02T14:01:05Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Let’s say that Genevieve Stapleton falls in love with and marries Cuthbert Stapleton, to whom she is not directly related. Genevieve, having feminist tendencies not unlike those of Hillary Rodham Clinton, wants to keep her maiden name in her last name. Would she therefore be known as Genevieve Stapleton-Stapleton? My high school gym teacher wanted her son to have her name, so Ms Mason’s kid got her last name as his first name, Mason. And the dad’s last name, Burns. Or together, Mason Burns. Then she and the dad divorced, so she decided to add her last name to his last name, hyphenated. So he was known henceforth as Mason Mason-Burns ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/5 "2009-01-02T14:08:44Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Yes if she was a pretentious twat. People will do anything, so I don’t know why this won’t happen eventually. It’s probably happened many times, since women have been hypenating their names for decades. It’d look very silly but I don’t see how it makes the woman a pretentious twat. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/6 "2009-01-02T14:37:43Z")
Eleanor Roosevelt didn’t do it when she married Franklin Roosevelt. If it was good enough for Eleanor, it should be good enough for the fictional Genevieve Stapleton. ---
**Author:** ![steadierfooting](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@steadierfooting](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steadierfooting)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/7 "2009-01-02T15:58:25Z")
This is a common occurrence in Puerto Rico where they hyphenate their paternal with maternal name. Also agree with **Harmonious Discord** ’s answer. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/8 "2009-01-02T16:03:11Z")
I don’t know that it would be seen as pretentious in a Spanish-speaking culture where everyone has two last names. The choice would be between one form of awkwardness and another, since having only one last name would make people wonder why. ---
**Author:** ![Sonnenstrahl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Sonnenstrahl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonnenstrahl)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/9 "2009-01-03T01:11:54Z")
Isn’t there a character in a Wodehouse story with a name like this? I think that shows that, at least in England, it’s seen as pretty darn pretentious. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/10 "2009-01-03T02:00:06Z")
> [@Sonnenstrahl](#): > > Isn’t there a character in a Wodehouse story with a name like this? I think that shows that, at least in England, it’s seen as pretty darn pretentious. Cyril Bassington-Bassington. Of course, hsi name was not merely the results of the marriage of a single Bassington to another, but it was the name of some great House of Bassington-Bassingtons, with cadet branches and main lines and what-not. Wodehouse tended to give hyphenated names to the silliest of characters: so your assumption was probably right, at least for 1920’s England. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/11 "2009-01-03T02:37:33Z")
There would be a fierce argument, but the man would ultimately prevail, and force her to change her name to Stapleton. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/12 "2009-01-03T03:08:45Z")
[Introducing the Tollemache-Tollemaches](http://www.thepeerage.com/p25195.htm#i251944). One member of the family received the name Leone Sextus Denys Oswolf Fraudatifilius Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache, but is said to have gone by Leone Sextus Tollemache (probably after being asked “How many Tollemache’s is that?” one too many times). This name originated not with a mother who was a pretentious twat, but with a father who was a nutter and married his cousin. ---
**Author:** ![lynxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@lynxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynxie)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/13 "2009-01-03T03:38:52Z")
My Grandmother was born a Sibley and married a Sibley. She chose to keep her maiden name, a brave move in the 30’s! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/14 "2009-01-03T04:09:38Z")
There are also [Cave-Browne-Caves](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Cave-Browne-Cave), apparently. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/15 "2009-01-03T04:16:55Z")
My Aunt’s middle name was (to use a previous example) Sara Burns Mason, she married Mr Burns and is now Sara Burns Mason Burns. Causes endless confusion when she has to sign official documents, especially since the real names are so long she usually runs out of room. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/16 "2009-01-03T11:45:33Z")
I remember a sitcom where the woman introduced herself as Mrs. Jones-Jones. I can’t remember what show, but this was back in the late 80s or early 90s. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/17 "2009-01-03T16:46:01Z")
I remember reading a book or story about a child named Sylvia Smythe-Smythe. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/18 "2009-01-03T18:09:23Z")
Don’t forget Vivian Smith-Smythe-Smith, one of the [Upperclass Twits of the Year](http://www.jumpstation.ca/recroom/comedy/python/twit.html)! ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/19 "2009-01-03T22:28:17Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > My high school gym teacher wanted her son to have her name, so Ms Mason’s kid got her last name as his first name, Mason. And the dad’s last name, Burns. Or together, Mason Burns. Then she and the dad divorced, so she decided to add her last name to his last name, hyphenated. So he was known henceforth as Mason Mason-Burns Bond James Bond 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586/20 "2009-01-04T03:14:51Z")
Our genealogy society is co-hosting a lecture by [Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak](http://www.honoringourancestors.com/aboutus.html) later this spring… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-mundane-for-gq-the-same-last-name-hyphenated/479586.md?page=2)