Maxim Vachon-Savary belongs to a generation whose very names are meant to make a statement. He's a hyphenated Quebecker, and he bears the family name of both his father and his mother.
"It was a statement about the status of women, and about equality," said Mr. Vachon-Savary, 25. "I know that for my mother, it was important to pass down her maternal side."
Yet when Mr. Vachon-Savary became a father a year ago, politics took a back seat to pragmatism. He and his wife, Veronique Chayer, were legally allowed to choose from eight different name combinations for their twins. It could be Chayer-Vachon, Savary-Chayer, Vachon-Savary, Chayer -- and the list went on.
In the end, the Quebec City couple settled on a single choice. Their girls' last name would be Savary, the same as Mr. Vachon-Savary's father.
As members of Quebec's hyphenated generation grow up and have children themselves, some are discovering that their parents' politics have turned into their conundrum. The most recent figures show only 12 per cent of Quebec parents are giving their children combined family names, while 82 per cent choose the name of the father only.
Which leaves only six percent choosing the mother’s name in an era where more than six percent of new parents don't even co-habit. It’s not hard to see why double names would fall out of favour on pragmatic grounds, but why would a generation raised under firm notions of gender equality be almost unanimous in reverting to paternal lineage?
10 comments:
That is an interesting oddity: giving the kids the father's surname is more popular than marriage.
Even where the father's name is unfortunate. Unmarried friends of ours lumped their poor offspring with the father's name, even though it was "Sadd", which, given the stick they'll get at school, is tantamount to child abuse.
Biology? A woman knows that a child is hers, so it's the man who needs more reassurance?
Double names work okay down South.
Our chidren (my wife and I)have hyphonated last names.
... a hyphonated last name.
[W]hy would a generation raised under firm notions of gender equality be almost unanimous in reverting to paternal lineage?
I'm tempted to say "evidence" but that would make me a bad, bad man.
Also, as someone once pointed out to me, giving the child the hyphenated names of her parents simply signals the merger of two patrilineal lines.
Sharing the same surname makes for a more cohesive family unit. A sensible compromise, I think, is for women to keep their maiden (is that word even used any more?) name for business, and use her married name socially.
I feel sorry for my poor son-in-law who is frequently addressed by my daughter's surname. Luckily he has no identity issues and couldn't care less.
My wife kept her maiden name when we were married. I must confess that I balked when she originally suggested that we both hyphonate our last name, hence the status quo (which has worked very well).
David... "Lord Grattan" is a geographic and historical reference.
You're Irish ?
erp;
My commentor name is what I would usually put on my name tag when I attended social functions for which I was the escort and SWIPIAW was the invitee. Sometimes I used "Mr. Susan —", though. Nowadays, though, I go more commonly by "—'s Dad".
All;
Hyphenated names simply delay the extirpation of the matrilineal name by one generation. It doesn't change the fundmentals (as David noted indirectly).
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