What's in a name?

[oxfordhacker]

tinyjo and I aren't married because we see very little reason to be, but it would make certain things (taxes, inheritance, etc.) slightly simpler if we were. However, if our only motivation is such a boring one, we're unlikely to ever get round to it, hence we have been talking of changing both our surnames at the same time. It would make the whole thing more entertaining and more significant, and will demonstrate our commitment without bowing to the patriarchy.

For the next week tinyjo and I are going to be in Las Vegas, famed for (amongst other things) quick weddings, so this seems a good time to decide on which name to adopt, in case to mood should strike us. (I'm not being coy, by the way. We really haven't decided either way.)

Our main criteria are that this name should be:

1. Plausible (we must be able to order takeaway or sign a petition without people assuming we're taking the piss)


2. Simple (we don't want to have to spell it every time)


3. Cool (it must be fun enough to justify the hassle of changing our names in the first place)

We've got a few ideas that we like, so this sounds like an ideal excuse for a poll:

[Poll #1192231]

Comments

[snark2]

Just want to say what a great idea I think this is! :D

[vinaigrettegirl.livejournal.com]

If nothing else, marriage makes life much easier for the surviving Significant Other, should one of you die. Your joint house isn't threatened and the taxman doesn't take a huge chunk of what's left. I'm all for putting two fingers up to the patriarchy, but letting the patriarchy evict my Other Half in the event of my death because of my radicalism seemed to me to be at best inconsiderate. It was one, but not the only, reason I had for getting married.

What the matter with 'Jones'? It's post-modern, applied in the circumstances you describe.

[shepline.livejournal.com]

Surely to be truly post-modern about it they should both change their names but one to Smith and one to Jones. Alternatively they could go triple-barrelled about it and have Smith-n-Jones, or Smithern-Jones.

Have you seen my suggestion for something completely off-the-wall?!!

[vinaigrettegirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, hallo! I gather congratulations are in order, btw, and I do extend them to you both; delightful news.

I missed the suggestion - doesn't seem to appear in my view of 'comments'. My sense of postmodernism is perhaps a bit primitive, but TM I Am Not A Writer and you are, so i would reckon plain 'Jones' would do for my taste. But it's not me whose name it would be anyway. I'd go back into family names until I found one we both liked were I headed that way, because otherwise names are like tattoos; just baggage.

[shepline.livejournal.com]

you need to view the answers for the second question... ;-)

[vinaigrettegirl.livejournal.com]

Didn't dig that deep but now i have. i think calling oneself "shorty" in Spanish would be an invitation to unkindness and mockery, particularly for Alex...

[cleanskies.livejournal.com]

Make sure it works rhythmically with your first name -- single syllables may end up feeling a bit Lois Lane (i.e. obviously made up)

Speaking of which, Alex Summer actually is a superhero...

[celestialweasel.livejournal.com]

As someone still happily unmarried after 22 1/2 years, it does seem a wee bit perverse to me to change your name but not get married rather than vice versa.

We were witnesses at some friends (well, 2, surprisingly) wedding at the registry office in Oxford, round the registrar's desk, i.e. just 6 of us, with the minimum text and no rings. It seemed reasonably inoffensive I have to say.

However, More is the traditional name for OUSFG people to change their name to :-)

[snowking.livejournal.com]

Careful. Don't want to end up sounding too much like a Warren Ellis character.

[(Anonymous)]

Alex Sparks becomes Alex Parks and I'm not sure about 'Good morning Mrs Sparks' uttered by a classrooom, plus a Miss Sparks broke my friend's heart (all long forgiven and forgotten now though), oh and Tristam had to pretend to be her once, I'm surprised you've not heard the story of 'when I was Miss Sparks for the day'!

Could go for Wynne instead of Win - bit more subtle, bit more classic.

I do really like the idea of both changing your names - I got very fed up with all the name-changing when we got married and wanted some of the responsibility to be the man's. Patriarchal oppression etc etc. I do like us having the same surname now though. I'd thought about double-barrel(l?)ing them but a triple-barreled surname would be simply ridiculous. How about Green since I gave that one up... ;-) Easy to spell, random people ask if you are Jewish, translates easily into multiple languages.

Any possibility of making something using syllables from each of your names? I think I tried that while a bit drunk and failed.

'Fiction' since it's a made-up name? Any famous nom-de-plumes that you like?
Something soppy like Union or Pair/Pear?
Vegas sounds like a stage name, Oxford? (sorry, going a bit Brooklyn now!)

Glad the trip is fun :-) Do they still film Jerry Springer in Chicago and can you get tickets?? Tristam wouldn't let us go when we were there :-(

Anyway, tea break over, back to the lab

--
Angharadxxx

[watchingeordies.livejournal.com]

I know you don't know me from adam (i wandered in after shaggy blog stories and never left) but my hubby and i both changed our surnames when we got married (not quite the same i know but still) and i think it's the way forward.

(We took various letters of our surnames and mother's birth names and came up with something ultimately cool. Although i did persuade some of my friends we were going to go with 'spaniel'. (just to be clear, we didn't do that))

Anyway, I just wanted to point out that Alex followed by S is too hard to say clearly and you end up spelling it out anyway (I used to be -th S- and it's similar to that).

Have fun whatever you decide to do!