Typophile

Shall we hyphenate?

lindsaydurango

My fiance and I are doing something that I think is pretty cool: He’s Beeson and I’m Durango, and after we’re married in October, we’ll *both* be Durango-Beeson.

And that’s where I bring a question to the typophiles.

Personally, I have something against the hyphen. Not always. And often, I love what it can do. But in this context I really just *don’t* like it.

It’s been pointed out to us, though, that not hyphenating our name might confuse some people. “Is Durango your middle name?” Would it be ignored altogether?

Lindsay Durango Beeson
Patrick Durango Beeson

I feel like there’s a simple elegance to it.

But I’d like to ask you typophiles: is the hyphen interceding where it absolutely must intercede? Or do you think that, in the world today, people could simply come to understand that Durango Beeson is meant as a surname?

Many thanks for your time,
Lindsay Durango (Beeson!)

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lindsaydurango

Oh my ... and by my subject line, I meant “Shall we hyphenate”! Please forgive me. Former copy editor and I still didn’t get it right!

(* It’s been fixed)

jt_the_ninja

I personally wouldn’t process “Durango” as anything other than a kickin’ last name, especially if it were Mrs. Lindsay Durango Beeson...

...the true typophile would make it an en–dash, and mandatorily so :þ

Peace,
JT

lindsaydurango

Aha! I didn’t know that was a function of the en-dash! (Still have a lot to learn, mostly about en-dashes.)

It will be pretty kickin’, huh?

jt_the_ninja

The en–dash has many uses...mostly it’s for typophiles’ pleasure in scoffing at the ignorant.

Peace,
JT

Si_Daniels

>“Is Durango your middle name?”

This would solve that problem ...

Lindsay Danger Durango Beeson

lindsaydurango

We could definitely go for that, the both of us.

I wonder if the kids will mind when we decide that they, too, will be Danger Durango Beesons ...

guifa

I have the opposite problem when I’m in Spain, everything thinks my last name is Stephen, most people have three names, one first name and two last names.

I say go without the hyphen, and whenever there’s a situation of doubt, write the name in all caps.

Lindsay DURANGO BEESON

A good typophile will of course make that small caps, and a true one will make that real small caps instead of scaled-down caps. ;-) But in all seriousness, I’ve found that works, as it’s generally the accepted practice, especially for those who come from cultures where the last name comes first, e.g., KIM Jong-Il instead of Jong-Il Kim or Kim John-Il to emphasis that Kim is the family name.

«El futuro es una línea tan fina que apenas nos damos cuenta de pintarla nosotros mismos». (La Luz Oscura, por Javier Guerrero)

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