Taking your husband's name

We're not sure yet. But trust me, Seama, you'll be one of the first to know.

 

Not in germany.... at least not anymore. We have very strict laws concerning names, compared to the US...

 

I took my hubby's last name....kinda. haha. I use his name for day to day things like bills and bank accounts. I have my last name that I use for my arts and buisness. Basically, I made a compromise.

My dad doesn't have any other kids, and he is actually a very sensitive man if you take the time to notice. Also, I have emotional ties to the name, as it was mine for 25 years. In my mind, i am still Regan "X".... not yet Regan "Y". I forget to answer to Mrs. Y.... i don't realize that they are calling me.

 

oh yeah. i was told once that my name, K.C., would not be acceptable in germany. seems kinda silly that you can't hyphenate the kids' names.

 

K.C., I don't think you would be acceptable in Germany at all... Just kidding...

I took my hubby's name, I didn't want to have a different name from my kids. We are a family, and it would have made me feel an outcast. For art and if I ever get published, I will use my birth name, my grandpa deserves some credit for what he endured getting to Canada....

I do know someone who tried to take her man's name but didn't like it...too many consonants and not enough vowels.. So she uses her own.

 

I'll keep my name, most likely. Sons will have their father's last names, daughters will have mine.

 

That's cool - that way you keep the matriarchal line going. It's totally fizzed out for my Mom's line which went back to the Daughter's of the Confederacy. I was such a disappointment.

 

that is just to keep things "simple"

traditionally, a women takes the name of her husband, and then the kids get that name. However, since that would be kinda onesided, it is possible, that the man can also take the family name of his wife, and both can keep their "maiden"-names (how's that one called for men? no term for that in german either...) and hyphenate the other one. But they still have to choose one as the family name, which would be the name of the kids. And kids can't get hyphenated names (there are exceptions) because then they would have the right to be able to hyphenate their spous' name to it in the future and so on... which would lead to rows of hyphenated names, and that would probably lead to chaos. (At least in a german buraucratic sense)
But when I think about it, in arabic countries, (dunno how it is with the women though) men carry a lot of names. like mohamed Bin X Bin Y Bin Z Last name (translated as Mohamed son of X son of Y son of Z lastname) which says a lot about someones heritage and if they need it short, the go Mohamed Lasname. (Where as it would still be kinda difficult since about every third man is called mohamed). Weird traditions.

And yeah, K.C., as in just those letters would not be acceptable. There is acutally a list of names as what is acceptable and what's not. It's also not possible to give kids those "typical" hippie-names, as most of them are referring to "things". It is a different thing with names of other languages. Luna for example, which means moon is acceptable. because it has a long tradition as first name. The list also gets bigger and bigger.
From some point I can understand this strictness, because other then in the US, it is not as easy to change your name. So if you can't be given something that will likely bother you in the future, there is no need to change your name.

 

the mexicans are like that, too. i can't speak for other latino groups, but i do know that mexicans have a LOT of names.

so what would happen if i showed up over there all american with my K.C. name?

 

that's ok, cuz you are american. even if you and your hubby would live here, still being american, and your kid was born here, the german laws would not apply to you, because you don't have the german citizenship. It's just for people with german citizenship. Even if you would want to take over german citizenship, they wouldn't make you change your name... that would be kinda stupid...;-)

 

ah. good to know.

 

well... i like my name, and i feel really connected to my last name.... and my current beau's last name doesnt sound too good with my name.. so we'll see....

 

In Quebec you have to pay to change your name so many people keep their maiden names cause they're too cheap to pay the fees.

 

No, it's about money.

For the same reason, many businesses in Quebec are 12344834322 Inc.

 

i'd most likely want to keep mine
i love it and its a part of who i am and where i come from.

 

Iceland has both patrolinial and matralinial names:

If Jon Arntson and Maria Helgasdatter have kids, a boy would be "Sam Jonson", a girl would be "Sally Mariasdatter."

Hyphenated names are OK for one generation. But if Sam Jones-Roe marries Mary Doe-Smith, their kids would have "Jones-Roe-Doe-Smith" (or "Doe-Smith-Jones-Roe") as a last name.

 

That just seems so weird, like it would be splitting the family or something..

 

It does seem weird. But in Iceland last names are not family names.

As in my example: Arnt's boy is named Jon Arntson. Jon's boy is Sam Jonson.

A boy and his father do not have the same last name (unless the grandfather and father have the same first name.)