If you’re going to use my name, get it right.
The other day, a Ranger Rick subscription offer arrived our mailbox, a print version of a cold sales call. No doubt the National Wildlife Federation, publisher of Ranger Rick magazines, got our name by purchasing a list of recent subscribers to Highlights magazine.
It was a lovely sales package, customized in several places with the family name. So why was I annoyed instead of intrigued? Ranger Rick broke a cardinal rule of sales and appeals: If you’re going to use my name, get it right. The Edison-Swift family lives at my address, not the Swift family.
The basics
Let’s review basic rules about hyphenated last names.
- The hyphen is a legal letter. The name on my passport and driver’s license is Edison-Swift. The hyphen (dash) is the glue that transforms two parts into one new name.
- Edisonswift is a legal alternative for those situations (notably airline tickets) where a hyphen is not available. Edison Swift is not a legally acceptable alternative; without the hyphen, the last name is Swift.
- It is not up to you to decide my name is too long. If you have just eight spaces for entering a long name like “Hendrickson,” for example, you would use “Hendrick,” not “Drickson.” Use the same principal for hyphenated last names. Start at the beginning and stop when you run out or spaces, feeling free to drop the hyphen. For me, it would be fine in this circumstance to use Edison-S or Edisonsw.
- Hyphenated names follow standard alphabetization rules. Sue Edison-Swift is filed under “E.” Sue Edison Swift (no hyphen) is filed under “S.”
- Real men can hyphenate, too. My husband and I have shared the same last name for decades.
Turns out, my Ranger Rick naming problem started with Highlights. I went to look at the address label on the first issue of Highlights to arrive, and our last name is printed Edison Swift (space, no hyphen). Ah. Without the hyphen, the last name is Swift.
Do you spot the error here? Hint: It has nothing to do with hyphenation.
Beyond the basics
Bottom-line, if your goal is to get someone to buy, donate, volunteer or join, get their name right. And, the bigger the ask and the closer your relationship, the bar for being “right” is raised from just using what is correct (e.g., Edison-Swift) to knowing and using what is preferred (e.g., Sue instead of Susan).
A quick quiz to review
- The name Annamarie Jones Smith is filed under
(a) J
(b) S
(c) Don’t have enough information to know
- The name Mark Jones-Smith is filed under
(a) J
(b) S
(c) Don’t have enough information to know
- What is an acceptable way to enter the name Sean Jones-Smith without using a hyphen?
(a) Sean JonesSmith
(b) Sean Jonessmith
(c) Sean Jones Smith
(d) Sean Smith
(e) Either (a) or (b)
Answers: 1-b; 2-a; 3-e
–Sue Edison-Swift (1/20/2016)
P.S. For related posts, see Hyphen8ted and Hyphen8ted2: The Next Generation.
