As a parent, it's a wonderful thing to watch your friends have kids.
As a name and word enthusiast, it's a fascinating thing to watch your friends make decisions about their kids' names.
First names are interesting enough—there's more than I could say here about that. (It's another post.) Last names hold their interest, too.
Last names inspire less hand-wringing than their counterparts, though mainly because they do often feel predetermined: Kids get dad's last name. (In the demographic slice that is Anglophone America, anyway; I know that other populations vary.)
The surname scheme, of course, is just another cringey remnant of the patriarchy. Because, no matter how hand-wringy my parents' generation may get about it, there's really no good reason for kids to assume their father's name.
The proffered reason? As with many another troubled practices—Well, that's how we've always done it!
And despite my family's own patriarchically-informed choice, it's fun to see friends make other less obvious choices—combing surnames with a hyphen, or the child taking mom's name.
No comments:
Post a Comment