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

[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...