A senior deed poll adviser from Deed Poll Office said: “Double barrelling has always been a good trend going on for years and years. In the last five to 10 years, it has increased more as people want to keep their maiden names.

“During lockdown, we saw a 30 per cent increase in people applying for double-barrelled names. It is the biggest increase we have seen before. Same-sex partners are doing it too.

“Each year, there are around 5,000 double-barrel name applications among the 40,000 applications we receive in total.

“Traditionally, you take your husband’s name, but civil partnerships are coming in and women are more independent now, working, can earn more than their partner. So independence decides if they want to take their partner’s name.

“If parents split up, the parents sometimes double-barrel the names if they live at different addresses, to keep the connection.”

Children of the Hollywood actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have the double-barreled surname “Jolie-Pitt”.

‘Meshing’

Putting maiden names as middle names is another trend that is emerging, according to Deed Poll Office.

So-called “meshing” – combining surnames when you get married – is also in vogue, the firm said. Dawn Porter, the television presenter, changed her name to Dawn O’Porter when she married the comedian and actor Chris O’Dowd.

Bernadette Chapman, from the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners, said she knew of a groom who took his wife’s surname because her family were prominent landowners and business owners, and this would ensure the name continued through their children.