I get the idea that the double-name situation in the UK is altogether different. I'll welcome a correction

Only slightly different really, slithy, as per my previous post on this thread. The common factor is that - for whatever reason - the wife-to-be wants to retain her maiden name (incidentally, am I right in thinking that this terminology is frowned upon? Why so?), and the husband-to-be is happy for her to do so. Any kids take on the double-barrelled name, thus giving explicit credit to their family tree on both sides.

You do get the odd triple-barrelled name, but far more commonly the least valued additions will be dropped. Of course the least valued addition may be the woman's or the man's birth-name these days. And really even in the old days, if a lower-ranking man married someone like a princess or queen, you'd hardly expect her to drop her surname, which may, of course, be double-barrelled already.

As a side-note, my wife has retained her maiden name, and for a number of reasons we've given our kids her surname rather than mine. People can struggle with this one, but I've become used to being referered to as if her surname was mine. A little way for social evolution to go yet, eh?