Anyone has a cool idea how to fix this problem?

P

It's good to hear people with hyphenated last names at least think about this stuff.  I asked this hyphenated guy at work what's gonna happen when he gets married next year, and he said he hadn't really thought about it.  Well start thinking, buddy! 

I'm glad you shared your passionate thoughts about hyphenation with us.

So I think it's actually quite simple:  you have Jane HerMaternalName-HerPaternalName and John HisMaternalName-HisPaternalName.  Basically the women pass down the name from their maternal line, and the men from their paternal line: so, Baby HerMaternalName-HisPaternalName (in either order, whatever sounds best, the order isn't the point.)  If one person isn't hyphenated they just pass on their only last name (HerMaternalName-HisName.)  The male name will keep on going as long as there are boys in the family (same as before), and the female name will keep on going as long as there are girls in the family (which is new, but really good, I think.)  Did I explain that clearly enough?

I think this is relatively simple, perfectly fair to both sexes, and you never have more than two last names.  The only problem I can see with this would be if you're the child of same-sex parents (ie Jane HerFirstMom'sName-HerSecondMom'sName) and you're trying to decide which of your two names to pass down, but then I guess you'd either have to just pick one or make a portmanteau out of them.

Disclaimer:  Although I fully intend to do this myself (future spouse willing), and try to tell people about it at every opportunity in hopes it takes off, I have never actually seen it done.  And I haven't even convinced my own sister, who thinks that if I pass down our maternal (Gordon) name then she should pass down the paternal (McKeon) name so that they both continue.  I tell her that we are starting a bold new naming convention that will change the world for centuries to come, but it doesn't seem to be working.  But you know, even if folks don't follow my advice, it's still pretty straightforward to realize that no kid should have more than two last names so each spouse only gets to pass down one, and if someone has two it's up to them to figure out how to do it (pick one at random? portmanteau? the one that sounds better? your favorite parent/side of the family? or my maternal/paternal line thing?)

Anyway, my point is, I think that neither "Oh, it'll be so hard for the poor kid to have a hyphenated name" or "This is not a sustainable naming system to pass down through the generations" is a good argument against hyphenation.  But you can probably tell I'm a little passionate about this.

(I could go into my brilliant plan of what to do when people with hyphenated names get married and have kids of their own, but since I'm three months late to the party I'll refrain.  Unless someone *really* wants to know...)