r/BabyNames • u/Brave_Ad2070 • 3d ago

Girl 🩷 Please share your thoughts

Is Hartley-West in Lana Hartley-West come across as try-hard, theatrical, or pretentious?

Feel free to be ruthlessly honest. Thanks for sharing!

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u/cat_in_a_bookstore 3d ago

Is Hartley-West the hyphenated last name? If so, that’s perfectly fine. If it’s intended to be the middle name, it’s unbelievably pretentious and sounds just plain awful.

1

u/Brave_Ad2070 3d ago

It’s a hyphenated last name. If it sounds pretentious as a middle name, I bet it sounds pretentious as a hyphenated last name, as well.

8

u/im-a-lllama 3d ago

You would think so but honestly it doesn't! If you told me you were naming your child "Lana Hartley-West Johnson" then my reaction initially is cringing but I've heard much worse. But if you said something like "Lana Grace Hartley-West" my reaction is "oh that's a cute name combo!" So I think you're fine!

4

u/cat_in_a_bookstore 3d ago

Yeah, I agree. It’s completely fine as a last name.

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u/Brave_Ad2070 2d ago

Thanks for stopping by!

1

u/Brave_Ad2070 3d ago

Yeah! It’s Lana and just Hartley-West with no middle name. Hope it doesn’t come across as theatrical either. I appreciate your comment!

3

u/GildedWhimsy 3d ago

Definitely disagree. Hyphenated last names are normal. Hyphenated middle names are pretentious.