(Untitled)

[birchmoon]

Thought this was interesting, particularly some of the reader's comments already posted

Comments

[lira_million]

Double barrelled names are a good way round it, if you want to change your name at all. They do however, have a bit of a classist stigma attached to them, in England at least.

Also, it seems strange that female doctors keep their maiden names after thet get married. I don't know whether this is for practical reasons (ie recognition), but on the outset it's like saying that only doctors can keep their name by default.

[faepuck]

From my understanding, doctors can have all the name-changes they want, but they can only publish in journals using the first name they ever published under. As you suggest, it's for recognition of their work (since otherwise it would be nearly impossible to follow their findings over the years if one were a researcher checking sources & cites).

It may be that this is more common etiquette than academia law, but it makes sense either way.

[lira_million]

Thanks - that makes sense.

[jaralith]

Also, if they build up a practice and a reputation under one name, changing is a hassle. The law also requires that you practice under the name on your medical license.

[0xmahliax0]

That's what I've heard, too - you have to practice under the name that's on your license. I think it's meant to prevent doctors who shouldn't be practicing from changing their names and moving their practice elsewhere and starting agin with new clients.

[naath]

Women with a reputation (accademic or proffesional) attached to their name are unlikely to change it at least for the purposes of their work simply because if you have clients recomending Ms Jones as a good lawyer and she is now Mrs Smith then she doesn't get that refered buisness.

[andhowever]

Also, since a doctor's title is. . .well, Dr, there's no way for a patient to know if a doctor is married or not. Thus, you can run into situations where there's a diploma on the wall for Dr. Emden and you're being treated by Dr. Wallace. It's just easier not to change.
Also, doctors - because of their training - tend to marry later, so they have more of an established adult life under their maiden name. Female doctors of the Baby Boomer era also had to fight really hard to even get into schools, much less start careers, so it's entirely possible that they're more into keeping their names as a symbol.

[four_thorns]

i think that a lot of professionals in different industries do this, as well. i know that a lot of tv reporters continue to use their maiden names after they get married, because name recognition and building up a reputation with the viewership is so important in their field. i think the same is probably true for any field where establishing a professional reputation with clients/customers/etc is important.

[muliebrity]

The other issue with double-barrelled names is whether or not you give them to your children. If you do, and then they want to hyphenate when they're adults, they could have three or even four last names. It's not an earth-shattering problem, but one that I don't think many people consider.

[squinting_kitty]

That was one reason why I'd be hesitant to hyphenate names upon marriage. I'm not married yet, but I have thought about what I'd want to do if/when I do get married. At this point I'm still not absolutely sure.

[goddessspiral]

Yeah I have thought of that problem if we one day decide to have kids. But hopefully by that point those theoretically children can possible make up their own creative way to figure it out, either by creating their own unique last name they will share or just picking each the last names of their parents that will look the best hyphenated together. LOL

See I come from a Hispanic background so to me it's natural to have 3 or 4 last names and knowing your last names going back multiple generations. So it's just a matter of creatively dealing with a new situation.

But it's still a good point to think of. :-)

[squinting_kitty]

Also, it's a big problem if you marry another doctor. In my extremely small town, there's a husband and wife who are both doctors at the same practice. That'd get very confusing if she hadn't kept her maiden name. I'm sure that's not the only reason (from what other people have said), but it is a practical one.

[lilagrubb]

There used to be a married couple who were both GPs at the practice where I'm registered. It used to annoy me that the receptionist referred to the man as Dr, and the woman as Mrs. If I wanted to make an appointment with the woman, I used to make a point of calling her doctor, followed by her first name as well as her surname. That's not difficult, so there's no reason she should lost the title she deserves just because she uses the same surname as her husband. When I was a child two of my doctors were father and son, they got round it using their title and first names.

[squinting_kitty]

It used to annoy me that the receptionist referred to the man as Dr, and the woman as Mrs.

Yuck! Boy that'd get my blood boiling. Here they're both "Dr." It's just "Dr. Thomas" and "Dr. Bowers." Both have been my doctor since I was little though I tend to see the female more now just out of preference.