Question for people with long or hyphenated last names

I'll be hyphenating to "Rodriguez-Welch", but going by "Mrs. Welch". My Mom's name is hyphenated too to "Vega-Rodriguez", and really the big issue with her that I've noticed is that with medical records/appointments, sometimes she's put in the system as "Vega" or "Rodriguez", but rarely "Vega-Rodriguez".

My parents named me with both last names because they weren't married yet. So "Hangman-Clymer" goes on everything and it's a pain. And as Nicole said medical places mess up forms. Also alot of online forms won't let you have the hyphen symbol in the name or a space so it is all mashed together. I'm honestly excited to get married so I can be Jenidy Johnson. So much easier to write, type, and say!

Well, if I ever get around to it, we are going to have two last names with no hyphen. I have heard it's easier to not hyphen it so that you can use either one.

I am excited to change my name. My last name is going from 10 letters, to 4! Put its just shortening. Example- Johnson to John. (That isn't it, just an example. I don't want to give out my real last name on here!)

I'm hyphenating my last name as well. It's a little bit of a mouthful, so I expect that socially people will probably end up calling me Mrs. FH's last name, which I don't mind at all. And I'll keep going by my original name at work since I'm a teacher and known by my last name. I've asked other women about this, and they say exactly what others on this thread have mentioned: minor annoyances with doctor's offices and online systems where you have to mash the names together. But nothing serious.

Alternative: you can become a 3 name person. That is, make your maiden name your middle name and go by all three. That way, you're still recognizable and unique, but you don't have to worry about the mouthful. That's what a lot of celebrities do when they've established themselves before getting married. Just put everything in your full name and you won't have to worry about being called just by your FHs last name. Good luck figuring it out!

And remember, while it's easier to change your name when you get married, you can pay to change it at any point. So if you have name regret, it's not the end of the world.

I have this same concern since I have 2 published papers and 2 more in the works. I think I've decided to have my maiden name as a second middle name and use FH's last name primarily. The only issue is I would have any future publications as F.M. Maiden New for publications, which is long, but I have seen it done before. I think it will be overall easier to just have FH's last name.

Also, I like the connection to my last name. It was part of my identity as an athlete in high school. Plus I have a cool keychain with my maiden name. lol

My mom is hyphenated, and as someone else said, the biggest problem is forms. People add her as one, or the other, sometimes both. Sometimes with a space, sometimes with a hyphen (and you would not believe how many people ask what a hyphen is....) and sometimes with the two just smashed together.

I'm not hyphenating or going with three names because my middle name has more meaning to me (well perhaps not meaning, but it's included in a lot of personal items including my email address, lol). Unfortunately there are no boys anywhere in our family so I think my parents generation is a little upset that none of us plan to carry on the family name...but I just don't want a hyphen. I will be taking his name.

I don't think in the end it matters what you do as long as you're happy with it. Don't make a concession you aren't happy with, it's YOUR name And you have to learn to sign it, lol.

It's not so much of a pain with how long it is, other than people assume they know how to spell it, but they never usually get it right.

I can always tell when I have to sign a bunch of stuff, because by the end, the last half of the name is a bunch of swirly squiggly marks.

My last name is currently 13 letters long (and a hyphen) and I cannot wait to get rid of it. As others have said, forms are difficult and often my name doesn't fit. I also have a uncommon first part of my last name so often times people think I'm giving them my first and last name and get really confused when my name isn't where they are looking. I am so excited to drop my hot mess of a last name and change it to my FWs which is a common word that most people know how to spell. It will be wonderful.

Thanks for the feedback guys! I never thought about just having two last names with no hyphen in between! I guess if everyone has these problems with medical forms, but the insurance still pays, then who cares?

Greta, My mom did that! But my last name is very masculine, so somehow it doesn't feel quite right :-P

Corinne, right? I don't know which field you are but I felt like I had to run all possible names through pubmed first to make sure I'll come up! My undergrad PI had the name "Drewell" and everything that came up was his. But then some Japanese company released a sleeping pill named drewell, and suddenly there was a flood of pubmed results for that instead of his papers!

Ha Kayla, my name is NEVER spelled the right way, so I'm used to that. I also do a bunch of squigglies, often too many for what the letters are. I turned in my PhD thesis today and had to sign two copies. The first copy had extra bumps... oops!

I'm honestly really traditional and will be taking my husband's last time. I can't wait to be Mrs. Moore

@Holly I'm in marine biology. I've yet to come across anyone else with my initials and name. But I have had a difficult time looking for papers where there are multiple hits...

I have a middle name and 2 last names from birth. I hyphenated them when I moved to US because they told me it would be easier. NO! Half the time they put my 1st last name as middle name. I gave up!

I never considered hyphenated since my last name is Cox and I'm sick of the immature people that make jokes so I'll take my new Dutch last name

My middle name is hyphenated and it is a hassel. Even when I take his name I'll still have a long name. I'm not changing it because they are special names to me. But, be advised tax forms, medical forms, applications, basically anything that requires your full name will never have enough space.

I have the opposite problem, my name is fairly common, so I can't wait to take on my FH's last name. It is pretty long and is more consonants than vowels.

I dropped my middle name, moved (common) maiden name to middle position, and added DH's (unusual) last name. Total of 19 letters. No hyphen between maiden & married last names.

But, that was too much to put on forms (especially marriage certificates), so maiden name got dropped to just an initial.

My son has a hyphenated last name which he only uses on legal documents. Day to day stuff he just uses my maiden name. He hates having such a long name (16 letters total). My ex weren't married and he wouldn't sign the birth certificate saying our son would just have mine so the government hyphanted it

The government named your child? What government is this?