Combined surname

Hi peoples,

I'm in a same-sex relationship & we are planning to have a family in the future. We've discussed who's surname the child/ren would take and whether either one of us would take on the surname of the other partner. I might add here that both of us are quite opposed to double-barrel surnames (no offence intended to those that do like them, but it is just not an option for us). We both feel that it would be nice to all share the same surname in our household. Something that just seemed to fit best for us was the idea of combining our names to make a completely new surname (For example, Watson & Jennings = Wattings).

While this solution feels really right for us personally, we've asked a few family members & friends for their opinions and had mixed responses from those who think its a great idea to those who think it is ridiculous.

What are your thought on the topic? Your feedback would be appreciated

I think its a good idea. Only problem I could see is if anyone in either family is overly attached to their surname. (E.g. I am attached to my family name so had to become a bdouble-barrel when I got married, as there was no way that I was letting go of the name that I grew up with.) If both you and your partner have brothers/sisters/cousins that can "carry-on" your family names, then there shouldn't be any issues with both of you changing yours.

I think it's a great idea. We toyed with it, but the combinations were just ghastly. If you can do it, and it's nice, then why not?

I think it's a great idea if you're both happy to do it, I say go for it :)

Interesting idea - with your names I like Jenson ;)

I think it's a fantastic idea! SIL and her partner have each kept their own name but their kids are hyphenated. But I do like your idea and Wattings would make a great surname as would Jenson :)

I also think it is a great idea. My older 2 children have a hyphenated surname and it is really long, so we discussed combining the 2 to make a whole other name. Neither of them liked the new name though :( but I thought it sounded great! It is a really good idea too, especially if neither of you feel the need to pass on a surname or whatever like that (it's not an important thing in my family to pass on a name)

I think a combined surname is wonderful in same sex family. My partner and I originally wanted to do this when we have a family, but our surnames dont go together at all!
If they went better together we would definitely be considering it.:)
Goodluck

Wow, thanks for all your replies. For the record, the Watson / Jennings combo was just a hypothetical for privacy reasons, to give you the idea of what I meant! Thanks for your supportive comments, it's nice to know that there are plenty of people out there that think it's as good an idea as we do!
I really appreciate your feedback :D