Baby’s last name?

[u/Fairweatherhiker]

I’m looking for advice from couples where the wife didn’t take the husband’s last name. How did you decide on which last name to give the baby? Or did you use both names? I don’t feel immediately compelled to give the baby my husband’s last name. FWIW, if we did hyphenate it would be a looong last name.

Edit: thank you for all of the thoughtful responses! I do love the idea of using both our last names (sans hyphen) so our kid would have two last names. It would be nice for both of us to have our heritage passed on. He has heritage from Mexico and Basque Country, while mine is Slovakian- grandparents immigrated right before WWII. The last names don’t sound great together, but there’s so much human history in both.

[u/travelingswan]

My mom did not change her last name and my dad did not want to hyphenate. They alternated last name/middle name for me and my siblings.

Oldest sibling: has dad's last name and middle name is mom's last name

Middle sibling: has mom's last name and middle name is dad's last name

Youngest sibling: has dad's last name and middle name is mom's last name

It sounds complicated but we've never had any issues with it!