About: Name blending

Name blending, meshing, or melding is the practice of combining two existing names to form a new name. An example is the combination of the surnames Dresser and McLoughlin to form the new surname of game designer Clay Dreslough. It is most commonly performed upon marriage. According to Western tradition, the wife normally adopts the husband's surname upon marriage. Name blending is an alternative practice that attempts to assign equal cultural value to each partner's surname. In November 2012, it was reported that 800 couples in the United Kingdom had opted to blend their surnames thus far that year, primarily among "younger couples in their twenties or early thirties", with this being a leading reason for the issuance of Deed Polls to change names.