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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU not to want child to have his surname?

376 replies

Jess499427 · 09/02/2019 20:23

Hi all

I am pregnant with my first baby, due in June. Me and DH are married but I didn’t take his surname. There were a few reasons (practicality/effort of changing my name, I quite like my name, and I’ve had it my whole life so would feel strange to change it), but the main reason was that DH’s surname is very unusual and when hearing it for the first time, people often laugh.

We have discussed baby names but have got stuck on the surname. DH is keen for baby to have his surname and I am keen for her NOT to have his surname. I feel like it’s unfair to inflict the name (it is quite awful, it’s hard to describe without actually saying what it is) on a brand new person! I have suggested that she could have my name, we could choose a new name, we could all have a new name... but he is adamant.

AIBU? We are both being quite stubborn. Should I give in? One of us will have to!

OP posts:
Ottercup · 12/02/2019 01:52

Next women will be asking to grow a dick and make the baby on their own without the need of a man at all! hahaha

You're too funny and I assume you must need to go to hospital from the back you just broke from reaching so far.

People: "Babies don't have to have their father's surname"
You: "What next? Women growing dicks and impregnating themselves?"

pineapplebryanbrown · 12/02/2019 01:54

Well sooo many of us raise them alone and have MUCH bigger balls than men. So fine, might as well have impregnated myself.

deadliftgirl · 12/02/2019 01:56

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

deadliftgirl · 12/02/2019 01:59

@thighofrelief101

Well sooo many of us raise them alone and have MUCH bigger balls than men. So fine, might as well have impregnated myself.

Most women who cannot keep a man are women who do not have good relationship with their father because they have no respect for men. Yes some men are bad but you cannot generalise the actions of few bad men when there are a far greater amount of men who are loving and caring husbands and fathers.

Ottercup · 12/02/2019 02:13

@deadliftgirl

I was born with my mother's name yes, not my father's. I changed it to my grandfather's name when I was older. Thanks for the prejudice.

Ottercup · 12/02/2019 02:14

the type of family you came from.

Do you know what? Fuck you actually Grin

pineapplebryanbrown · 12/02/2019 02:15

I adore my wonderful father thank you very much.

deadliftgirl · 12/02/2019 02:16

@Ottercup

See, you have just spoken the truth! Grin Grin Grin

Ottercup · 12/02/2019 02:17

Wow. I'm not allowed to be rude when you insult my entire family, okHmm

deadliftgirl · 12/02/2019 02:25

@Ottercup

I did not insult your entire family but if you think I did then that is up to you!

Beside clear conscience fears no accusation!

Oswin · 12/02/2019 02:34

I adore my father, he is wonderful. It is thanks to my relationship with him that I have never wanted to be owned by a man or hold on to a man.

Oswin · 12/02/2019 02:38

The outrage that women should want their child to have her name is amazing.
A man's name is important cuz he's a man. Woman can't find things like this important, we are far too silly.

Myfoolishboatisleaning · 12/02/2019 02:38

I would give the child both names, not double barrelled, but I would not use his. So register her at school with just your name. But if she has his name officially it may make him happier? I have both my parents names and switch it up, mostly I just use my mum’s though because it is alliterative so I like the way it sounds with my first name.

Smotheroffive · 12/02/2019 02:40

Didn't say it did! I was talking about stupid statements

Smotheroffive · 12/02/2019 02:51

the type of family you came from

I believe that's exactly what you did deadgirl I don't how that can be read as not!? Weird that you have a clear conscience you certainly shouldn't have the way you have spoken her, please do t go spouting words like respect now that funny

JassyRadlett · 12/02/2019 07:21

Marriage is about respect and understanding and I am more shocked that women would pull other women down for having a different opinion which is clearly based on different values to you!

Which values are those, exactly? Certainly not those that value equality within marriage, or those that value women for their own achievements and in their own right rather than ability to ‘keep a man’.

emilybrontescorsett · 12/02/2019 07:36

Have I just teleported back into 1876?
Hang on I'll just put my corset on.

Some people really do not have a clue how rotten it is to inflict a piss taking name on a child.
I work with children.
It does matter.
It matters to them.
Nobody wants to be called Gary Cockwank jnr, absolutely nobody.
I'll say it for the millionth time. It does upset children. Stop saying it's fine cos it's tradition, that is not how children think of feel.
This is 2019, the majority of children by the age of 14 will not be living in a traditional nuclear family with their biological mother and father. If they do then the chances are that one or both parents will have a child to someone else.
Therefore it makes a lot of sense for children to have their mothers name, otherwise they will end up with a different name to their siblings and parents iyswim.
As for 'keeping a man' I'm speechless. There are no words.

florascotia2 · 12/02/2019 07:40

For the second time on this thread, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop saying that changing a woman's name on marriage is an ancient tradition. It really isn't. It's a relatively recent social convention (popular from around c 1800), that became 'set' after government compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths was introduced in the mid 19th century. Before that, a woman might be known by her family name, by her first name only (if she was poor), or as the wife of her husband , but still with her own name.
This article describes it all very clearly: annapmurray.com/women-changing-names-part-3-a-brief-history-of-womens-names/

YouBumder · 12/02/2019 07:49

Marriage is about respect and understanding and I am more shocked that women would pull other women down for having a different opinion which is clearly based on different values to you!

What values would those be then? Bearing in mind you don’t know my marital status and where mine and my children’s names came from?

Ottercup · 12/02/2019 09:10

I'm sorry for swearing everyone. I was very tired, not that it's an excuse.

adrienneJ · 12/02/2019 09:15

You are not taking on the whole nation here OP, only deciding with your dh what's best for your family, its not traditional anymore, praise be!!!

Given that 96% of children still take on their fathers name it is in fact very traditional, to the point its almost engrained.

It sounds as if its not really that bad a name at all on the whole and more a case of OP just doesn't like the sound of it rather than it being a name that would likely be laughed at.

Don't embrace the victim culture and assume that automatically your child will be a bully victim. Have the confidence to know your parenting will have moulded them to feel sorry for those who would try to tease them over something as shallow.

Who is anyone to ridicule someone on what is important to them. Its been noted several times its patriarchal, therefore somehow bad. I can totally understand why a man would feel it important to have his kids associated with him by name, even more so in this era of toxic feminism where any masculine behaviour is seen as some kind of threat to humanity. As some have said its about give and take in a marriage and if its agreed this is important to a man then it maybe its a sacrifice worth making to maintain a healthy relationship.

This is the problem in society, we all think we are super important and our feelings matter before all else, thats why so many relationships break down as the selfishness is unsustainable. In a time where its encouraged to be who we feel and embrace who we are, explore ourselves and our sexuality as we see fit. Someone even made reference it was out of touch to not have sex before marriage as if its a good thing that bad behaviour is the norm regardless of its toxicity to kids especially.

Forget women in times gone by do you actually think its beneficial to women we now live in a society where sex is encouraged out of marriage and we teach kids growing up thats a good thing to be free and do what men have done for so long. Do you think for a second that its just shear coincidence that we have a generation of young teenage girls suffering in proportions that are now epidemic who feel such little self worth for themselves and have such low self repect for their bodies that they're intentionally and deliberately inflicting harm upon their own self. That to me is tragic beyond words. Women complaining how bad they were treat in the 'olden 'days' compared to times we live in now, and they're actually abusing themselves. Go feminism, not. Then you see a parent scratching their heads as to why their child would do this, and to the odd few the boulder in the room will finally drop on their foot, that is that all these things that we believe are good and modern and fun actually have this clause that we never even considered, called consequences.

To consider the confusion young girls brought up in this toxic environment must be facing really saddens me. Everyone teaches them how far women have came, how were free to explore our bodies and embrace random transactions of sex. Young school age girls curious seeing porn and thinking the star of an adult film ' 4 in the ass' is a strong empowered woman, or a role model to look up to! Yet when their going out as they're taught to and sharing sexual experiences they wonder why this amazing new sensation and feelings they've just shared with this person hasn't had the same effect, in fact rather the opposite, her partner she's shared her body with and these intimate moments now see's her as the last person he'd actually want to be 'seen' with because she's labelled a slut. How devastating it is to think how confused and worthless young girls must feel when they feel like they're popular because all the boys want them and make that clear and so they try sex again hoping for that connection blissfully unaware and unable to make sense of the fact there only value to these boys is as an object with which to satisfy themselves in.

Is that bad male behaviour, yes, but such bad behaviour is rewarded not least by the modern feminist whos telling them women are the same, they too are as sexual as you and are embracing living out their fantasies. Women don't need men look how strong we are.

So do I love patriarchal traditions. I think fatherhood is vital and within context if they are important to my man they are important to me. Just as he makes sacrifices for the things that I feel are important and value. These are the things only you know what is important for you both, But you both have to give into things you sometimes don't like giving into. Thats good for a healthy relationship and stability.

The voices of all the man-hating feminists are those of someone who will typically struggle to form meaningful and stable relationships throughout their life, they feel constantly threatened by masculinity & male behaviour, and try to bully women who might value it. They show a general lack of understanding on what it is to compromise, believing their feelings are the only ones that matter. This is often a product of there own environment growing up rather than their own fault but is why I stand by firm values to rid society of these bigoted views.

It really, really wouldn't - plenty of kids are in blended families, DP and I have 2 kids together, one with his surname, one with mine.

Cultural norms in Britain include a forename then a surname it is very unusual to see any different. We dont give kids a pejorative name for example, had you read the sentence after you would of seen that is what i was referring to.

And as to your courts comment - don't be ridiculous, why on earth would she have to justify wanting her child to have the same name as her?

She would have to justify it because the child is both of theirs and if both parents are present and there is dispute I think you'll find the family name of the father will be favoured or a hyphenated one secondly as this is the most common way and therefore in the best interest of the child not just 'what the mother wants.

Newborns default to their mother’s last name, not their father’s.

They do, whoever it was that mentioned newborns.

I'm struggling to understand your logic here. Are you saying that conformity to a pre-existing set of patriarchal norms dating from the days when a wife and children were the man of the household's legal chattels, is more important than the fact that this is no longer the case?

So because something dates back to a time when bad things happened that too must be a bad thing? Therefore everything that dates back to when bad things happened must be bad things too right? If this is your logic then i feel you'd struggle with any explanation also.

Also the latest research, Sheffield University and many others, shows that children from single parent households do no worse than those where the parents are married.

This is so misleading . In fact the study you refer to wasn't representative of Sheffield University, as is specifically noted, but rather that of the author, who is policy officer of a leading charity helping single parent families, so clearly with an agenda to further shifting policies to benefit that charity.
It's a study solely based on children's own self reporting on 3 questions, namely 'life satisfaction', 'how feel about family' (that was the actual wording in the study), and 'peer relationship problems' where the kids tick a box between 1 and 5 with the largest gap between average answers being .17 and .40 over all answers.

If anything the report highlights large instability over all the groups so I'd be interested to know where they targeted. However, its pretty clear this was a politically motivated report by an individual with a specific agenda rather than reliable neutral research. A similar paper could be 'Christianity is the best religion' By The Pope

I dont think its the case single parents cant better their lives or that of their kids as there are many single parents who work tirelessly and admirably to better their lives for their kids.
Some people on here sound as if they're in complete denial though rebutting the notion of a disadvantage and in shock that someone could actually sympathise.

I know plenty of single parents and its a sure thing not 1 of them are there because its what they set out to do (only the actions of an inherently evil person would do so intentionally). its usually came about through 1 or more poor life choices along the way, and can with good choices and hard work be worked through with a positive outcome.

Wow I havn't really touched the keyboard since finishing Uni thats just taken nearly half an hour! Ive got another few weeks to heal a broken leg though so plenty to keep busy with in that time.

I nearly forgot also thanks to the poster for pointing out that my mentioning of my values of marriage and its importance was actually because I'm insecure, who would have guessed? Its been staring me right in the face all this time until i saw your post, and there it was, complete rationality of a new self-awareness. Aw bless ya.

JassyRadlett · 12/02/2019 09:53

Its been noted several times its patriarchal, therefore somehow bad.

Which elements of a system that gives special status to, and largely controlled by, men are good?

I’ll leave your nonsense that girls are self harming because women don’t take their husband’s names, and that feminists are responsible for porn, because they are such utter nonsense I can’t believe anyone would take them seriously, and I suspect your mind isn’t open to discussion or evidence.

JassyRadlett · 12/02/2019 09:55

She would have to justify it because the child is both of theirs and if both parents are present and there is dispute I think you'll find the family name of the father will be favoured or a hyphenated one secondly as this is the most common way and therefore in the best interest of the child not just 'what the mother wants.

It was me who mentioned newborns. On what are you basing this legal opinion? At what age does the law change from the practice with newborns? Is it legislation or case law?

Cattenberg · 12/02/2019 09:59

We dont give kids a pejorative name for example

Isn’t that just what you’re suggesting? It’s fine to give a child a pejorative name such as Ugley or Smellie if it happens to be the father’s surname?

What would you say if a baby’s father wanted to name her Gay or Fanny after a relative, and the mother wanted a more popular first name? Should the father get to choose because he’s male?

I know plenty of single parents and its a sure thing not 1 of them are there because its what they set out to do (only the actions of an inherently evil person would do so intentionally).

You would see me and one of my former colleagues as inherently evil. You’re free to think that, but I don’t think that’s most people’s impression of us.

Oswin · 12/02/2019 10:06

You say if the man feels hurt by not passing on his name the woman should give in.
Yet then you rant that everyone thinks their feelings matter. By everyone yiu mean women. So man's feelings should be listened to and acted on. Women's should be ignored the selfish witches.

Who told you that courts will give the fathers name? Your husband?

That's not how it works. The mother can just go name her baby. You think because this is how you view the world then its how it works all over.

People like you are dying out. And I am so very very glad about that.
You are a misogynistic bigot.