Yeah, no one is surprised that I have qualms about the changing of the name thing. I am all for someone changing their name if they want, but why is it an automatic thing? People just assume that I will be Mrs. hisname hislastname. Why does the girl have to change her name? Because the boy would get made fun of. Because that is what people do. Because society says so. Originally it was basically because the last name change signified a change of ownership. Well, not good enough. What do other societies have to say? Here is a little glimpse into the name issue in our own and other cultures:
- Sorry about the picture. I googled something like American wedding and this popped up. Couldn't resist.
- Lucy Stone was the first American to openly question the tradition of the recently-espoused female last name change. This occurred in the mid 1800s.
- A New York Daily News Article released in August of 2009 reported that 70% of Americans think a woman should change her last name and a ghastly 50% think that it should be a legal requirement. Now, I do not think that this is entirely accurate as it seems that the survey included less that 1000 people, but still!
- What kills me is that after searching for information on men changing their last names all that I have found is a few news articles about one British guy in 2008 and an Arizona native in 2005 doing so. The Arizona guy actually had to file suit in 2007, apparently, as in many states it is still much more difficult for a man to legally change his name because of marriage. Just google "name change" and see what you'll find. Here is one, though it is from a bridal website, albeit
Offbeat. Be sure and read the comments!
- From what I can tell from a bit of research, women have the option of writing in their new last name on their marriage certificate but men do not with the exception of six states: GA, IA, MA, HI, NY and DE. Sorry guys, you'll have to go through the court system to petition for a name change.
(Russia)
- Anything goes as far as legality and ease of change for both genders. The couple need only say whats up during their wedding.
- The most common change is the woman changing her last name to a grammatically feminine version of the man's last name, e.g. Karenin-Karenina, Gorbechev-Gorbecheva etc.
- I find the Russian way of doing things particularly interesting. It has advantages and disadvantages. Its a distinctly feminine nomenclature if not distinctly individual identity.
- Everybody basically does the exact same thing (with the exception of Argentina, parts of Mexico...)
- In cultures that are widely recognized as machistas, married couples hang out in a world where a compromise over names is the cultural norm and actually a non-issue.
- So what's the long and short of it? Traditionally we have the following: Sr. Firstname Dad'slastname-Mom'slastname marries Srta. Firstname Dad'slastname-Mom'slastname and nothing changes when they marry. Their children will get both of the granddad's last names, though.
- Also, the mother's last name is dropped most of the time. For example, the Mexican president's name is Felipe de Jesus Calderón Hinojosa, but folks just call him plain old Felipe Calderón. An exception, though, is the current prime minister of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. He is known worldwide most commonly by his mother's name, Zapatero.
More later...
