Latest baby name trend sees parents giving newborn a 'mashup' surname

A new baby name trend is becoming quite popular amongst new parents, and it's not with their first names, but their last.

Traditionally most newborns will take their father's or mother's last name or a hyphen of both, but a Sydney couple is among the few that have done a "blended" surname.

Courtney Cassar and Laura Sheldon are new parents to daughter Lyla and after long discussions, before they were even pregnant they decided on a blended surname, consisting of a mash-up of both of their last names.

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The parents opted for the last name "Casseldon" for their newborn daughter, and have had mixed reactions from family and friends.

"We were excited to give Lyla a blended name because it means it comes from both of our families instead of one, and now her last name tells a story," Casser says.

With a lot of their relatives unsure if it was even legal, Casser explains that it's actually legal and quite easy. "Turns out it's just whatever you write down on the registration with Births, Deaths and Marriages."

Little Lyla Casseldon isn't the only baby to receive a blended last name in 2019, with statistics from New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages revealing that children who share the same last name as their parents has dropped by over 50% since 1980.

Fewer kids have a hyphenated name with only 3.0% of children in 2019 having a hyphenated last name and proportion of kids with last names that belong to neither parent has increased from 3.4 to 9.4% since 1980.

Despite these new trends in last names, the traditional practice of a child taking after their father's last name still remains the most popular with 85.5% of children in Australia.

This article was first published on the NZ Herald and is republished here with permission.