this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2024
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Back in the medieval ages when a woman was married to a man, they were basically considered property for my understanding and treated like an extension of the man's person and family. So it was customary for women to take the man's last name since they were being joined to his family. But now here in the 21st century women are fully independent and last names don't really seem to mean much of anything. I mean what is Smith or McGregor or any last name really mean anymore? Especially in the digital age, lots of people have digital usernames like SarahSmith1727373. So the last name clearly doesn't mean much anymore.... Which leads me to wonder, why do the majority of women still take the man's last name? Especially when some of them have a horrible last name? I have seen some butt ass ugly last names recently, like Fink, Weimer, Slotsky/Slotsky, Hiscock (no joke this is a last name), Hardman.... And then you hear the woman's name and it's like something way more reasonable and less stupid sounding like Kingman, or Harrison, Walls, etc.

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[–] deadcatbounce@reddthat.com 4 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Because everyone knows who the mother is through birth and following months/years if they're lucky, and the only connection a father has with his children is a last name.

It's quite reasonable that mums want the same surname as their children so ..

The trouble with that is that between twenty and thirty percent of children, depending on source, call the wrong person 'dad'.

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[–] dudenas@slrpnk.net 12 points 1 day ago

One other reason I imagine is to establish a single family name, especially with children in mind. I'm not sure it actually works better than a double damily name, but it probably seems so to some.

[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Well, my last name isn't my mom's last name, it's my dad's, and her last name was her dad's, then her husband's. So why do I care, I don't get a matrilineal name anyway.

I hyphenated, because we both had kids when we got married, and it made it easier to deal with the school stuff for my stepkids.

Otherwise, I really just don't care because my family name is my dad's name and it was only my mom's name because she changed hers to his. Not that I didn't care about my dad, was closer to him than my mom. I just mean I don't feel like it means anything.

ETA: as the OP says, though - I really, truly don't understand it when a lady has a cool last name and the man an awful one and they still use his. I used to work at a payroll place and saw this happen over and over, someone would be calling up for us to change their last name from, say, Valiant or DeLeon to Assing, or Fuckler or something . Really, why wouldn't he be the one happy to change in that scenario?

[–] wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I suspect a lot of women despite not wanting to be considered property, still place value on belonging with their partner. The western tradition of the man being the figurative head of household is still pretty prevalent. These two factors (and more, I'm sure) likely have some influence.

[–] 4vr@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This isn’t a thing in India unless there is a ‘value’ in the surname.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't India also use a system where your marriage is set up 30 years ahead of time while your mom is still pregnant with you?

[–] Today@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My husband and I were not married when our kids were born. I wanted to have the same name as my kids So I gave them my maiden name. I never really liked that name and I wasn't particularly close to my dad, so when my husband and I got married, we all changed our names to his.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I also took my husband's name when I got married. I personally am not a big fan of hyphenated names. For those that like them, fair enough, but they're not for me. To me, the problem with hyphenated names is that while they seem a way to avoid the "whose name do we give the kids" problem, they just kick the problem down the road a generation. If you have a hyphenated name, and you marry someone who also has one, are you both going to start using a 4-part surname? How about the generations after that, are they going to use an 8, 16, or 32-part name?

Of course not. At some point, now or in the future, someone is going to have their surname dropped. It either happens when you get married, or it happens when your children or grandchildren themselves get married and have to decide which names to drop. Rather than putting that burden on your kids or grandkids, I think it's better to make those hard decisions yourself. Better to just come up with a shared name for both partners and move forward together.

My wife didn't and years down the line she says she wish she had. We have to go through more with medical things and such to show we are related and it was like a simple checkbox for her to do it when we got married but to do it now is a major pain in the ass.

[–] Toes@ani.social 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'm a fan of the hyphen strategy. I really don't wanna change my last name just cause I fell in love. But hyphenation sounds like a good compromise.

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[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 8 points 1 day ago

At least for my ex-fiancée it was about the link between husband and wife, plus tradition. It was basically "I'm married, you see?". Just like a ring.

(We talked a fair bit about this stuff, as back then I was planning to add my maternal surname to my legal name. She was OK taking either surname.)

[–] ValiantDust@feddit.org 6 points 1 day ago (6 children)

To all the people here arguing that it's easier to have a family name, especially with children: It's also possible that the husband takes the wife's name. But from anecdotal evidence in my acquaintance, most men are very opposed to this idea. So if the woman wants a family name she has to change her name or have endless fights about it. That's why most women I know did it.

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[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

You're seriously wondering why women would want to take Hardcock? Buddy, I hate to be the one one to have to tell you this, I even hate to even type it, but women LOVE Hardcock. It's a fun name. It's fun to say. What woman wouldn't want Hardcock coming out of their mouth? Plus you get to attend the family gatherings on holidays and family reunions. Just a woman, surrounded by Hardcocks. Hardcocks as far as the eye can see!

.........why is everybody giggling?

[–] scytale@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

It's tradition in my country but not mandatory. The archaic government system is also easier to navigate through if a married couple have same the last name. Because it's so common for a wife to take her husband's last name, it immediately raises eyebrows when people claim to be married but have different surnames. In our case, my wife took my last name because she just likes it better than hers. It's neutral and easier to pronounce.

[–] stinerman@midwest.social 4 points 1 day ago

I have a coworker whose maiden name is Dykes. She was very happy to change.

[–] nokturne213@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 day ago

My wife took my last name because she had her father’s last name. He abandoned her shortly after birth and never attempted to get in touch with her. He quit jobs to avoid paying support. She did it to remove that last vestige of him from her life. Had she had her mother’s last name we would have hyphenated our names together.

[–] phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

Having the same last name is just an easy way to show togetherness and unity. My wife kept her last name because she earned her MD with it but she's fine going by Mrs. (my last name) in a parental setting.

[–] ElPussyKangaroo@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

When I get married, I'm thinking hyphenated, with her using her last name first, and vice versa. But last names can be pretty large. Idk how to tackle that.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Now is the lastname Kangaroo, or PussyKangeroo?

[–] ElPussyKangaroo@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Ackshually, its El Kangaroo, the Pussy is silent.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 3 points 23 hours ago (1 children)
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[–] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

This conversation is so white and western culture centric. Many cultures have different norms. Centering on this as the normal/accepted route is strange given how international our societies have become.

[–] ArtieShaw@fedia.io 2 points 1 day ago

My friends in Italy have told me that it's not normal to change your surname after marriage. They could be messing with me, though. They're mildly evil.

[–] Magister@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

True, for instance in Québec, Canada, it is illegal for a woman to take her husband name.

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