What's the deal with hyphenated surnames?

Question:

What's the deal with hyphenated surnames?

when John Smith-Jones marries Jane Brown-Johnston, what name does the bride take?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: It has been common in Britain and Ireland. In recent years American women when they marry keep their maiden name and add their spouses.

In HIspanic countries it is a legal requiremnt but they do it differently.

The husband uses his father patrynomic surname followed by his mother's maiden name

The wife and children uses their husband or father's patrynomic surname followed by the wife's maiden name.

until

The daughter gets married. She drops her mother's maiden name and pushes her father's patrynomic name to the right and inserts her husband patrynomic name in front of it.