What's in a name?

     If you are a man, your last name is your father's father's father's name and so on.   Your son(s) and his son(s), your grandson(s), will carry on that name.  Some fathers even give their sons their entire name with a Jr. added.  If you are a woman, you give up your (maiden) name the day you marry and take your husband's name which has no blood ties to yourself.
     The public often assumes a married woman has the same ethnicity as her husband.  Her accomplishments will be attributed to her husband's family.  Her children will assume the identity and ethnicity of their father and their accomplishments will go to that name.  Her son(s) will keep their father's name all their lives.  Her daughters will give up their (maiden) name and take their husband's name.  A woman's grandchildren and their accomplishments will never be attributed to their grandmother's family.  And so it goes down through history and into the future.
     This is a reflection of patriarchy.  The male name, identity, and power goes on.  In the past, the oldest son often inherited the wealth of the father.  Now, we usually try to treat sons and daughters equally with inheritances, but only the male keeps his name.
    Some couples use a hyphenated last name or give their children the mother's maiden name as their middle name, but this is only a temporary fix and gets complicated.  There is no law against a husband taking his wife's last name, but doing so is rare.  Most couples will continue in the traditional path.  They should be aware of what the woman is giving up.
     Perhaps the most realistic "solution" is to make your children aware of both sides of the family tree.  Their last name reflects only one of many, many family names.  They should take pride in being part of many families, many identities, and  many ethnicities.
     What's in a name especially a last name?  It represents only one of many names that go to make up you.