Do you know of any culture where a husband takes the wife's last name?

[Qacer]

I was doing some reading on this site and was amused to find out that the author (male) changed his last name when he got married. There are a lot of things that I do not know about the world.

So, is anyone aware of any culture where the husband takes on the wife's last name? (Do Germans do that?)

 

[oznerol]

That would mean the culture values women over men - and finding any civilization like that is not likely.

My guess, and it's not much more than that, is the guy is gay, and as such, took on the name of his male companion.

 

[Qacer]

That was my first thought, as well. But I don't like jumping to conclusions.

 

[illusion88]

I've never heard of it happening before.

 

[j00fek]

nope

 

[Inspector Jihad]

hmm...thats pretty strange...maybe the guy was a smith or johnson or something and wanted a more distinctive last name? I dunno, just a theory

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: ducci
That would mean the culture values women over men - and finding any civilization like that is not likely.

If it did happen, it would probably be more likely that they value the woman's father's name more than their own.

 

[TravisT]

There is a society where women play the dominant role and men play the stereotypical female role. This was discussed in my Sociology class just last week. But I am not sure what their tradition is on changing last names.

 

[Doctorweir]

Originally posted by: Qacer
(Do Germans do that?)

Being a (married ) German I can tell you we have complete freedom of choice...
1-wife takes name of husband
2-husband takes name of wife
3-both keep their name
4-wife takes double name
5-husband takes double name

In cases 3, 4 and 5 the kids get the husbands name though...

 

[Qacer]

Originally posted by: Doctorweir

Being a (married ) German I can tell you we have complete freedom of choice...
1-wife takes name of husband
2-husband takes name of wife
3-both keep their name
4-wife takes double name
5-husband takes double name

In cases 3, 4 and 5 the kids get the husbands name though...

Interesting. My curiosity was originally sparked by an Economist article that mentioned Walmart's withdrawal from the German market was due to the fact that German consumers didn't like to be pestered with smiling and assistance from the store employees. What Walmart did in the American market did not sit well with the Germans.

In Filipino culture, the woman normally takes the husband's last name. However, being a Spanish colony for 300-years, I'm assuming that we got this practice from the Spaniards.

By the way, my Cypriot Greek friends stated that most of the time their first borns are named after the grandfather. That's the reason why many of their cousins have the same name.

 

[jlbenedict]

A culture where the man turns in his "man-card" ?

Nope.. that culture does not exist.