Sustainable Nomenclature
Mar. 26th, 2009 02:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityvixenWhat could we do about the marriage practice of changing one spouse's last name (usually the wife's) to the other's that would make the practice a) entirely gender-independent and b) practical for multiple generations?
The best I can figure is that both partners have to change their name in some fashion. Either they would do it upon marrying--John Doe and Jane Smith would pick or be given third, new name, say "Brown"--or they would keep their names but give any children a new one.
That would certainly fulfill requirement a), but I'm still not sure that it's an attractive solution to the problem of b). Unless the parents took the new name and passed that on, having children with a different name from the parents is awkward and inelegant.
What do you all think?
Oh, and please, bear in mind that issues of being able to track genealogy are lesser concerns to me. We live in an age with adequate resources for tracking down that sort of information if you want to build family trees. I don't think "being able to trace/link back to our ancestors" is an effective argument against adopting a new system of nomenclature. Issues of how couples would choose new names are fair game though. I imagine we'd get plenty of crank names as the internet generations get married, to say nothing about the few folk who would expose their ignorance and/or bigotry by appropriating names from cultures not their own (or enhancing their link to diluted bloodlines with usurpation of old names).
The best I can figure is that both partners have to change their name in some fashion. Either they would do it upon marrying--John Doe and Jane Smith would pick or be given third, new name, say "Brown"--or they would keep their names but give any children a new one.
That would certainly fulfill requirement a), but I'm still not sure that it's an attractive solution to the problem of b). Unless the parents took the new name and passed that on, having children with a different name from the parents is awkward and inelegant.
What do you all think?
Oh, and please, bear in mind that issues of being able to track genealogy are lesser concerns to me. We live in an age with adequate resources for tracking down that sort of information if you want to build family trees. I don't think "being able to trace/link back to our ancestors" is an effective argument against adopting a new system of nomenclature. Issues of how couples would choose new names are fair game though. I imagine we'd get plenty of crank names as the internet generations get married, to say nothing about the few folk who would expose their ignorance and/or bigotry by appropriating names from cultures not their own (or enhancing their link to diluted bloodlines with usurpation of old names).
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Date: 2009-03-26 10:35 pm (UTC)That said, I've changed my name to something which is my mother's chosen surname after choosing to live with her instead of my father. That name isn't the one she was born with, but is the one she has her major qualifications under. I'm adopted anyway, so the whole point of genetic heritage is a bit moot and to me, what really matters is an easily pronounced name people can normally spell, since my first name, Nicolai usually screws people up enough.
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Date: 2009-03-27 12:09 am (UTC)The academic issue is a really hard one, too. My sister has published under her maiden name, and is basically keeping it and not objecting if she's referred to as Mrs. HerHusband'sLastName. Her daughter has her husband's last name, though, which is almost silly because his dad was adopted, too. His last name makes him sound Scottish when, in fact, he's 100% Norwegian. Perhaps that's informing my scoffing at this stuff--knowing people whose last names aren't reflective of their background in the first place...