(Untitled)

[birchmoon]

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

Comments

[starsorstreet]

Whats wrong with a wife taking her husbands name? Isnt it her sign of commitment to him? Doesnt tradition mean a thing anymore? If woman stop taking the name, then should men stop opening the door for a lady? Stop paying for her dinners? If this tradition dies, woman will lose all the little things that men should do for their wives.
Dave, Glasgow

WTF is all I have to say.

[andhowever]

Oh, I know. *breeeeathe*

[starsorstreet]

LOL

I meant to put it in italics and I forgot.

[goddessspiral]

Thank you for posting this. The idea of changing your last name when you marry just because you are a woman and it's tradition is a personal pet peeve of mine.

When my partner and I got married, we both decided to hyphenate our last names and that we would both take the same last name. It's really great to see how people react to seeing that he as a *gasp* MAN...decided to change his last name!

So we feel like that was the fairest way to do this whole mess. This way we both have half of the other and we both take on the burden and delights that go with it as well. LOL

Plus now we are truly a unique unit since I don't know of anyone else in the world that has Suárez-Papp as a last name. :)

though one thing that pisses me off is when people mail anything as Mrs. and Mrs. Alex Suarez-Papp. GRRRRRRR I hate that. I hate how that's totally SEXIST and disgusting. I've gone off at people and even called our alumni dept to tell them how I will not stand for that kind of mailings.

LOL

[cutiekitty]

What a great solution.

[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.

[the_living_end]

i tried hyphenating but found it almost always ended up being reduced to my husbands last name. it bugged the hell out of me so i dropped it. i dont get the fuss with keeping ones name.

[0xmahliax0]

I don't think you have to really get it - it's a very personal decision that, I think, should be left up to the individual. To some, the last name carries a lot of weight and meaning.

[the_living_end]

what i mean is that i dont get why someone else gets fussy over weather or not i change my name. i dont care what anyone does with thier name. it is a personal decision. and i expect the same from others. my last name is important to me- which i why i was bugged when people dropped it completely. im sure its equally important for some to take their husbands name.
maybe i just jumbled that up more but i hope you see what im saying.

[0xmahliax0]

I do, thanks. You don't get why other people care what others do with their names. Gotcha.

[miss_cute_boots]

I changed my name when I was married for a few simple reasons 1)I had an extremely common, boring last name 2)hyphenating would have been waaaay too long, my name barely fits on the signature line of a check and frequently runs over the signature line on credit card slips 3)I wasn't established in a career, so really the only thing I had to do was get a new driver's license and have new checks printed 4) (this is really silly) I liked the flow of my first name and his last and it's more fun to sign this way.
But an interesting alternative that an aquaintance came up with....they both changed their last name after the wedding to an entirely new last name.