摘要：Whether a double surname will be written with a hyphen or without one depends on the wishes of the person carrying the double surname; hence, that form is beyond the rules of orthography. This paper deals with the orthographic rules pertaining to double surnames of male and female persons, and the (im)possibility of their declension. It is concluded that, from a morphological point of view, the hyphen is not necessary in double surnames of either male or female persons. In surnames of male persons, the hyphen prevents the declension of the first surname, which is normatively not acceptable. In surnames of female persons, the hyphen is redundant because those surnames are not declined anyway, while in surnames of female persons in which the first surname or both end in -a, the hyphen prevents the possibility of declension. The tendency to leave out the hyphen in double surnames is confirmed by research on the use of double surnames of female persons in daily newspapers.
