It simply did not bother to me, so my second name has no more meaning to me, then my health insurance identity code. In my country, you have various possibilities, so both keeping their name, and the children getting one of the names. Both keeping their names, and the children getting the combined names. Both combining their names to have a shared new second name for both. Or one keeping the old name, while the other one having the two names combined....
But actually, I dont see that combining of names as an good solution. So Smith-Meyer maybe ok, but then a generation on, your Smith-Meyer kid os going to marry an Miller-Jackson kid, then it becomes Smith-Meyer-Miller-Jackson... O_o
And with that different name stuff then in the end one parent has another name then the kid, which can cause some complications in other countries, and force you to carry birth documents and other stuff with you, so you can proove, that the kid is yours. O_o
When we decided about the names, because of my partner having two combined first names with the same starting letter, and my family name having the starting letter, it would have really been weird for him, taking my name. So its not his name, but as example he would have ended as "Joe-Jackson Jefferson". Additional, whenever he would get listed only with the first letters of his name, in my country, the three letters actually stands for the laughing sound. XD
So choosing my family name would have been quiet bad for him. ^^
As far as I know, they have quite exact name rules in spain, with the name of someone involving as well both family names of his parents and so on. But because of that, if they introduce themselves formally, its quiet long. ^^
Quote:
Wikipedia: Spanish name rules "...Each surname can also be composite, the parts usually linked by the conjunction y or e (and), by the preposition de (of) or by a hyphen. For example, a person's name might be Juan Pablo Fernández de Calderón García-Iglesias, consisting of a forename (Juan Pablo), a paternal surname (Fernández de Calderón) and a maternal surname (García-Iglesias)..."
Spanish documents must be quiet large. ^^