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Should men consider taking the wife's name after tying the knot?

245

Comments

  • Posts: 11,195 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I do know a guy who did it, but his dad was abusive a$$hole and he didn't want to carry the name on

    Ha

    I commend him, that's quality


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,571 ✭✭✭Red_Wake


    What balderdash, a man's name is the most important thing he has.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,424 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    It's not something that happens often, but there's examples out there of men taking women's names.

    Ryan giggs, it's his mothers maiden name.

    A rugby player called Billy twelvetrees, i understand it was his mothers name, that his father took on to make it the family name.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,786 ✭✭✭wakka12


    I woudnt personally. i dont see anything wrong with the tradition of women taking the mans name. Its just the way it is, and she usually can keep her name if she wishes


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,801 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    Nope soz. The name is carried through the male line. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,995 ✭✭✭Ipso


    Nope soz. The name is carried through the male line. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be.

    If by beginning you mean about 400 years ago, then yes.
    Let's go Viking and just throw a son or dotter at the end of the parents first name.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,387 ✭✭✭✭super_furry



    A rugby player called Billy twelvetrees, i understand it was his mothers name, that his father took on to make it the family name.

    Think I'd do the same, Twelvetrees is an awesome name.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 348 ✭✭buckwheat


    joe stodge wrote: »
    These are probably the same type of guys who have a shared Facebook account with the wife.

    :D And go shopping with her when the football is on. All the time waiting for the sweet release of death.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,801 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    Ipso wrote: »
    If by beginning you mean about 400 years ago, then yes.
    Let's go Viking and just throw a son or dotter at the end of the parents first name.
    400 years?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 487 ✭✭selwyn froggitt


    I changed my name after I got married.


    The Bitch still tracked me down though.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,661 ✭✭✭fxotoole


    If her maiden surname was "Power", and my firstname was "Max", then HELL YEAH


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,285 ✭✭✭fyfe79


    uch wrote: »
    I know a couple of Finn's that have taken their wives names, think it's common enough there, but open to correction

    The gas thing about all this is, is if there was a debate about Finnish people switching from using the female surname to the male surname, there would be uproar! :)

    My take is that I wouldn't personally do it. When you grow up with the idea that you will die with your name, it's hard to shift that idea to one which involves dropping your name and taking an entirely new one. Plus there would be a multitude of issues to correct regarding official usage etc. Allowances are made for women changing their name but a man changing his name would, I imagine, cause some issues/misunderstandings/delays when it comes to government paperwork. Why put yourself through the hassle, essentially?

    Having said all that, if I hated my surname enough I would use the opportunity to change it to something meaningful, such as the name of the woman I married. And, to be fair, her maiden name was a cool one. I'd sound deadly with it!
    When we got married she chose to keep her surname, but then changed it to a double-barreled name because she wanted her name to reflect the fact that she was now married. Eventually though she decided that the double-barreled name just didn't look right, so she's now just using my name.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,457 ✭✭✭evil_seed


    Think I'd do the same, Twelvetrees is an awesome name.

    36 for short


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,436 ✭✭✭c_man


    Out of curiosity why?

    No cousins on that side of the family, no male siblings myself. The name is somewhat unusual and has an interesting story behind it. It'd be a shame for it to "die" in my generation.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,408 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    Red_Wake wrote: »
    What balderdash, a man's name is the most important thing he has.

    I believe you'll find a willy is more important to most.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,548 ✭✭✭BrokenArrows


    I would hate to change my last name. Thankfully my wife was not a fan of hers to was happy to change.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,995 ✭✭✭Ipso


    400 years?

    Surnames started in Ireland very early (with the UiNiall dynasty I think), but they were mainly used for the elite.
    I got into DNA testing and population genetics a while back and it looks like surname adoption was a bit fluid to say the least.
    Have a look at www.familytreedna.com , they have surname projects. Go to a few Irish surnames and you'll see they are made of various lineages.
    Be it people adopting names for various reasons, being forced to adopt surnames, cuckoldry, informal adoptions etc.
    Take Walsh for example, it's something like the 5th most popular name in Ireland and the meaning is basically a Welsh person (implying the Cambro Normans and their cohort), but it's safe to say a large number of Welsh men didn't replace the Irish population.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,499 ✭✭✭✭DEFTLEFTHAND


    How would it work with any potential children though.

    Personally I don't mind double barreled surnames as an alt option.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,894 ✭✭✭Triceratops Ballet


    How would it work with any potential children though.

    I imagine any kids would just have the same name as both their parents, whichever one they decided to use


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,173 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    How would it work with any potential children though.

    Personally I don't mind double barreled surnames as an alt option.
    Other languages and cultures have their own traditions.

    This notion of the women taking the man's surname is relatively recent and certainly not universal.

    It's actually kind of fascinating to see not only the variations in traditions, but also the absolute conviction with which people hold onto those traditions, as if they have always been like that and always will be.

    The amount of people who seem to be under the impression that their surname has been passed down for thousands of years, hundreds of generations, is incredible.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 11,217 ✭✭✭✭m5ex9oqjawdg2i


    But doing the exact opposite of tradition is tryhard pointmaking.

    No, no it's not.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,285 ✭✭✭fyfe79


    How would it work with any potential children though.

    Personally I don't mind double barreled surnames as an alt option.

    And when the kids grow up and marry, would their kids then have quadruple-barreled surnames? :confused:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,894 ✭✭✭Triceratops Ballet


    fyfe79 wrote: »
    And when the kids grow up and marry, would their kids then have quadruple-barreled surnames? :confused:

    they take one from each, that's how it works in most latin cultures


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,325 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump


    kylith wrote: »
    A friend of mine has a very unusual name, in fact were she to take her partner's name should she get married there would then be no-one with her surname in the country. In that case I think her husband should take her name, to ensure that the kids would have it too and save it from dying out.

    I know her. but there is a reason why her name is dying out.

    I heard Daniel Day Lewis might come out of retirement to do a film about her

    "Mary, last of the Cuntfaces"


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,285 ✭✭✭fyfe79


    they take one from each, that's how it works in most latin cultures

    Yeah, was thinking one would be dropped. Which then indicates that in terms of lineage, one name will be considered more important than the other. I'd imagine that traditionally the name being dropped in this scenario is usually the female surname or the male surname? As in, not usually a random choice?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,301 ✭✭✭Snickers Man


    judeboy101 wrote: »
    Great way to have multiple id's with different names

    Well if people can be Gender Fluid why not "Surname Fluid" ?


  • Posts: 11,195 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    No, no it's not.

    I shall endeavour to avoid going into my "end of the road" mode of discourse

    But most of the time it is, imo.

    And if it's over something as featherlight as this, then yes, yes it definitely is imo


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,571 ✭✭✭Red_Wake


    Grayson wrote: »
    Red_Wake wrote: »
    What balderdash, a man's name is the most important thing he has.

    I believe you'll find a willy is more important to most.
    If you give up your name, it's implicit that you've discarded your dick.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,894 ✭✭✭Triceratops Ballet


    fyfe79 wrote: »
    Yeah, was thinking one would be dropped. Which then indicates that in terms of lineage, one name will be considered more important than the other. I'd imagine that traditionally the name being dropped in this scenario is usually the female surname or the male surname? As in, not usually a random choice?

    I think they have quite specific laws about it, so I could be wrong but say when I'm born my parents names are Maria Garcia Hernandez and Eduardo Delgado Martinez then I become either Triceratops Garcia Delgado or Triceratops Delgado Garcia, then my kids will take whichever is first in my name and whatever is first in my partners in either order, but really it could be the maternal or the paternal name first


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,549 ✭✭✭Martina1991


    I can think of plenty of reasons for wanting to take the wife’s name.

    The woman might have kids under her name and no point changing the names of all the kids as well as the wife.
    Having childhood issues with their families and wanting to rid themselves of the family name.
    Keeping family names alive if the wife has no brothers.
    Having an embarrassing name like Longbottom or something.

    Each to their own I suppose.


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