Posted on 03/15/2005 8:03:55 PM PST by Dan from Michigan
Well... the O' was changed to avoid discrimation, and it ends in "gan" which is a common ending of Irish names. :)
So it used to be O'Higan and now it's MicHigan.
Dan I can't tell you how wrong you are. My last name is three letters long and I'd hazard to guess you hear it more than a few times each day just listening to the radio.
I've thought of changing my last name to include the spelling of it because I have to spell it out almost every time I use it on the phone. One good thing though, it is only three letters so spelling it isn't too time consuming.
Sorry Hodar (not Dan)... My eye wandered when reading what you wrote.
I know a guy that took his wife's name when he got married. His parents divorced and his last name got changed when his mom re-married, he hated his abussive stepfather and didn't feel the guy had any right to have him carry on the family name, he never really knew his real father, so when he got married he changed his last name.
Mr. Asswipe (pronounced azzweepay) supports this practice.
Bingo.
This is another matter entirely. You do your children a favor when you make a good role model, and teach them to strive to be the best they can be. But that is NOT the point being debated.
If your family name is Hogg, Seaman, Schlitthed, or other similar name, the kids will be singled out for abuse. Kids are cruel, and adults can be just a little less cruel. Introduce yourself as "Phil Micraken" at your next interview.
There is no shame in dropping a surname that either has taken on a new and un-intended meaning, is simply bad, or is awkward. I doubt you have any problems expecting Mohammed Isbarr Myied Kalarid Saraginai to change his name. I would expect this individual to change his name, for no other reason other than to match the culture of his new home. Same thing for many Asian immigrants. Why does a man have to keep a lousy last name?
Now you know that you are just inviting us to guess....hmmmmm.....a three letter last name from the south, that's easy to spell.
There was a Joe Poe who went to my school....
Hoe, Hay, Huh, Hey, You, Pie, Pig, Hog, Son, Bub, Boy, Ray, Rip, Mat, Hat, Cuz, Lee, ....
My wife's maiden name is 'Lee'. If someone south of the Mason-Dixon line can't spell 'Lee', I think that not only do I get to slap them, but pretty much everyone in earshot gets to slap them too.
I kind of figured it was Lee, and you're right. If they are from the south and can't spell it, they deserve to be slapped.
Although, I was kind of partial to Son, Bub and Cuz.
I didn't say you did, go have it changed legally. A man who takes the name of the female is doomed. He has agreed to submit to her. That's just gay.
There is a professor at Tulane University named Joe Park Poe...I don't know if he insists on people using all three names or if he is regularly called Joe Poe.
It was in Louisiana where I went to High School. Wonder if it's the same guy. I didn't know him, I just remember his name because it was unusual.
There are some cases where I can see the reasoning. I'm familiar with the example of an Air Force captain who decided to hyphenate his last name when he got married. The fact that the name in question was "Clapp" no doubt contributed to this decision....
Professor Joe Park Poe must be close to 70, and I don't know if he had any connection to Louisiana before getting the job teaching at Tulane. I suppose he could have a son Joe, Jr.
And how many of them are already or were already being cuckolded by their lovely brides? Wimpy men need a relationship too I guess.
Not only did the naming tradition continue, but both men and women kept their own surnames on entering marriage. So Inger Strømmesdatter (daughter of Strømme) stayed Inger Strømmesdatter after marrying Gunder Gundersen (son of Gunder). (This makes doing genealogical research on Norwegian and Swedish ancestors, at least on the female side, much easier!)
And in Germany until the 19th century, a man often took the last name of his wife in the form of "vulgo" (at the house of). So Johann Palm might become, after marrying Elizabeth Peters, Johann vulgo Peters.
Were all these women crazy and all the men wusses? For centuries? I understand we have a different culture in America, but honestly, why all the fuss if some Brazillian men want to adopt their wives' names?
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