trinityvixen: (thinking Mario)
[personal profile] trinityvixen
What 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).

Date: 2009-03-27 05:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] trinityvixen.livejournal.com
I think [info]trinityvixen was hoping that we might collectively be able to think of a next step in this direction that could work given the constraints of the system we currently live in.

I was, actually. I was hoping that there would be a way to define future names such that they wouldn't owe more to dead people than to living ones. That sounds harsh, but it's more or less what I mean.

Date: 2009-03-27 05:35 pm (UTC)
ext_7448: (eddie izzard languages)
From: [identity profile] ahab99.livejournal.com
I do like the both-people-change option, but again, I guess the problem comes in convincing people to do it. It gives the kids the same name as their parents, which I agree is an important concern.

Personally? I think all I can do is continue to ask, every time the topic comes up unexamined around me, why the guy isn't changing his name. It might be only a tiny bit of consciousness raising, but it can't hurt...

Date: 2009-03-27 05:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] trinityvixen.livejournal.com
I agree. I think it's a valid question. In the future, I hope to say that to newly engaged folk--"So, who is changing their name?" or some varietal of it that doesn't default to "So are you, [female friend], changing your name?" Avoid making that assumption--that she alone must choose--and see where the conversation goes.

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