I don't understand something about last names...?

Question

If a woman is the one who brings the children in the world and has to go through all that BS for the family, why do the children get the husbands last name if they don't share it?

Answer 1

From the beginnng of time only men owned anything.  In order for wealth, property and possessions  to pass from father to son, the wife took her husband's name to ensure the children were taken care of.

Answer 2

Y'all didn't have a vote when the law was passed. Hey, I agree, change it.

Answer 3

In the past it was a mans world; when laws were made, now its not.

it should be a choice who's last name you want ur baby too take.

Answer 4

I thought they always took the mother's name.  The ones I know of in this situation have anyway.

You like to complain about all the sexist men on here, but you sure don't have a problem giving women more power than men and even saying a baby isn't a man's.  Are you really for equality?  I hope I'm wrong, but I really am doubting it.

Answer 5

Here is a novel idea, human beings, even small ones are not owned by anyone. Just because one parent has the biolgical function of carrying a child it does not confer rights of ownership (that would be slavery right?). Experiencing the pain of childbirth does not confer ownership either. So what does this have to do with the question? Well in a free society it  is ultimately up to the individual to decide the names they go by. However there is the question of legalities & lineage which are important. It makes sense to me to dispense with fairly useless middlenames, so we can have the 1'st name then the 2'nd & last names should be the surnames of mother & father in whichever order the couple agree upon. For legal documents, etc. both should be recorded. As far as heredity goes both mother & father contribute equally so it seems fair the child should bear both names. I am not making a case for hyphenated names which can get cumbersome, common sense should prevail where this is concerned.

Answer 6

Just as well change that to , i mean we fathers are parity much phased out of the picture any ways so why not do away with any attachment at all.

edit , tell you the truth lol id much rather have had my mothers maiden name i like it better.

Answer 7

When my hubby and I got married we both changed our names, completely merged them. It was so romantic, both chanigin our names to something totally unique to just us.

Answer 8

Yeah they should go under the woman's last name...that is so much less sexist.

Answer 9

I agree. What I also don't understand is how some people say the father's lineage is more important JUST because the kid carries the father's last name....The mom's genes should be just as important because she carried the kid for 9 months and gave birth to it.

Answer 10

"horrible pain"?

Last time I check women can't get pregnant all by themselves.  It may be the woman's body, but it's the man's child; so why should the child get the woman's last name?

Answer 11

Another notion that men contribute absolutely nothing but s***n for child raising matters, there is a shocker.

Answer 12

i have no idea....

the only one of my siblings who has the fathers last name is my brother..

i have my mothers last name...because my own father was not around. ( my sibs are my half sibs)

and my 2 sisters have our mothers last name...

but have the same father as our brother..

why is this then? well my guess is is because when my sisters were born he had gone to prison both times before they were born...so our mother gave them her last name...

but he was around when my brother was born...so my brother got his fathers last name...

Answer 13

It's supposed to perpetuate the linage of the man's family. There are many people who mix it up though. For example, there was a guy I worked with who added his wife's last name to his, and she did the same in reverse order.

I would imagine the only compromise to your proposal would be that a boy would keep the father's name and the a girl would keep the mother's.

I'm going to have to look up this, so I can understand the traditional aspect of it.

Hey Eleanor B - I don't know. I was just trying to come up with a compromise of sorts. That's my business mind working there. :) None of this makes sense to me. I think the decision should be between the two having the child, if applicable.

EDIT #2 - This is what I found:

The majority of surnames are derived from patronymics, i.e. the forming of a surname from the father's given name such as Johnson, meaning literally "the son of John." In some rare cases, the naming practice was metronymic, wherin the surname was derived from the mother's give name such as Catling, Marguerite or Dyott.

Answer 14

the original reason was for the child to carry on the man last mame

Answer 15

This is a silly question!!!!

The line is followed from patrimony in our Western civilization.

Answer 16

We should use your line of thinking when it comes to child support to.

Answer 17

Marilyn vos Savant who writes the "Ask Marilyn" column in Parade said her opinion was that women should take their mother's last name, and men should take their fathers. I thought that was interesting.

But I won't mind my kids taking my husband's name, I'll be taking it too!

Interesting question

Answer 18

The man was the one who created the sperm, which contains many traits in the genes. The baby also gets traits from the mother. I think that this a confusing issue, so I have no opinion on who gets the final say.

Answer 19

I agree :-) Pregnancy / childbirth can be horrific, and even if it isn't it's generally no picnic. I guess some of the posters here questioning that pregnancy / childbirth causes pain have never known a pregnant woman.

I think girls having mother's name and boys having father's name (if known) is a good and fair system.

Answer 20

Another example of the selfish attitude of feminism.  Leave it to them to  see being pregnant as a bunch of BS. Not the honor of carrying the child of the man  you love,  which is exactly what it is.

Answer 21

I agree - if there's one thing you can be sure of, it's who the mother is - paternity is less certain.  Plus, it should be a little perk since women go through all the physical stuff - no reason it has to take the father's name though so we do have a choice :-)

Edit - if the girls take the mother's name, and the boys take the father's name, won't the mother's name die out anyway due to the women getting married and changing their name?

Answer 22

It's Just tradition, I think the family should decided to name it after the mom or the dad. And its both the mom and dad, moms cant have them alone.

Answer 23

HA. If I ever marry there is not a chance in h**l I will take her last name. If you ever marry, and your husband has no testicles, you can make him take your last name.