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"  Dear E. Jean: I met this guy at work. We hated each other, then we became friends, then we started dating, and then I got pregnant (after only three weeks!). I&amp;#039;m due next month. We decided to stay together\u2014actually, for the rest of our lives. We&amp;#039;re having a wedding, but since I&amp;#039;m as big as a beached whale, we&amp;#039;re waiting till after I give birth. Standing, my harp seal: It is perfectly proper to give the child both of your surnames, as in Prudence Baxter-Heppenstall or Roderick Glossop-Plank. It will prevent your name from dying out and bestow a noble luster upon your offspring. You may put either surname first, and hyphenate the names if you wish, or style the name without (as in &amp;quot;Camilla Parker Bowles&amp;quot;). I have the hots for the hyphen because when your child grows up and meets another child with a hyphenated surname, they can then marry and bear the illustrious double-double hyphenate (with strong odds of it being the only one like it in the world). Note: Your chap sounds a bit starchy. I suggest that before the baby arrives you go away together to one of those lively couples&amp;#039; workshop weekends where you learn various strategies for talking, not fighting. And speaking of babies: The best book ever written to help parents detoxify and green their households is Healthy Child Healthy World (Dutton) by Christopher Gavigan, and it&amp;#039;s out now. E-mail your questions to e.jean@askejean.com Related:  Ask E. Jean: Why Doesn&amp;#039;t He Call Me Back?  Related: Ask E. Jean: Would This Piss Off Catherine the Great? Related: Ask E. Jean: How To Play a Dude and Win "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/life-love/ask-e-jean/q-and-a/a14436/ask-e-jean-naming-baby/>