How do/did Indonesian Chinese choose their last names?
With great randomness.Some families pick local family name from Batak ethnicity (for example 'Hutabarat') or other ethnicity. Others, retain the chinese sounding surname with adding some prefixes / suffixes (like my family did). In my example, my chinese name 'Sim' + 'ano', becomes Simano.What worse, there are multiple surnames in the same family. For example, my father has different surname compared to my other uncles. So, in my father's family (and descendants), we end up more than 3 different surname, as they didn't agree what Indonesian surname should be picked back then.Noticing my other Chinese friends in facebook, their kids have different surname again. So, looks like surname is not that important to younger generation.Background for other Quora readers why Indonesian Chinese should pick Indonesian family name in the past: Legislation on Chinese Indonesians
Should we pass on a hyphenated last name to our child or choose one or the other?
As you specifically asked that we not comment on your decision to take hyphenated last names, I won't (I am getting married in September myself; this is a HOT topic for me).However, I feel this gut reaction that if both parents have a shared last name, that it would be odd to do anything other than give that same shared last name to the kids. From the child's perspective, having a different name from BOTH of one's parents is, well, pretty odd (at least in Western societies that don't use patronyms like Iceland or Russia or take on names of both parents like in parts of Latin America).And if the child's name is either your name of origin or your spouse's, it will engender the following assumptions:1. The child is the biological child of the co-named spouse and not the other.2. The child is somehow closer or more obligated to "carry on" the legacy of one spouse over the other.I fear #2 is your rationale, and that seems like a big burden. My middle name happens to be my mother's first name. This is a significant issue for me in choosing my post-marriage name, as I feel I can't change my middle name or risk insulting my mother. Do you want your future child to feel this guilt if he/she and her spouse want to change their last names and there is this big, overwhelming fear that it would hurt you or end your family name forever?
For writers: how do you pick out last names for your characters?
I have no trouble coming up with first names, and I'm not asking for someone to come up with last names for me. I'm just curious as to how you come up with yours. I rack my brain every time I come up with a character trying to figure out their last name and have the hardest time. It's not as hard for my main characters, their names sort of just appear, but my side characters, I have the hardest time.
Why do unwed mothers give baby the dad's last name?
In my area there are a lot of unwed parents having babies. In the paper they publish new baby's names and they almost always have the dad's last name. Why do women not seem to understand that if he didn't marry (or at least set a date) the moment the second line appeared on the pregnancy test, that he probably won't (that's just statistics)? Since the mother's still generally end up with custody, it would be so much easier to share the same last name with their child(ren). Imagine, every time the teacher calls you from school, they will assume you have the same last name. When you make doctors appointments or pick up prescriptions you will have to explain your relationship. At most they should hyphenate both last names together. Why are all these unwed mothers still giving their child(ren) the dad's last name?
In Florida can you choose a different last name than the biological parents for an unborn child when it's born
I am about 8 months pregnant, and unmarried. I am however moving into a new place with the baby's father. I do not want to give the child my last name. My boyfriend doesn't want to give our daughter his last name. Both of our reason's are the same. Neither on of our biological fathers' showed an interest in our upbringing. Out of respect he would like to give our baby his step father's last name. I am opposed because I am a traditionalist and believe the baby should carry the father's last name reguardless of the cirumstances. He is really pushing for us to try and put his step father's name on the birth certificate at the hospital after our baby is born. I have contacted a lawyer and asked them if this could be done. They told me that the last name could not be any other than the last of the biological parents/legal guardians. Basically, I just want to make sure the lawyer was infact correct with what he told me. That this can't be done. Thanks for all the responses.
Hate my last name? So desperate to change it. I'm 16.?
I know someone who also has that same last name. The way he handles it is by just joining in on the jokes. If people know it bothers you, they may continue. In a public forum (He was one of the participants in a debate at a college campus. That event was attended by hundreds of people, and thousands watched it streaming on-line.) the person I know commented that some people around the campus were saying "At least his parents were not cruel enough to name him Seymour". He commented that he was glad his parents did not name him "Seymour" (Butt). He replied, that he thinks his parents did discuss "Harry" for awhile, but he was glad they didn't choose that name either. Everyone laughed, and were impressed with his good sportsmanship and sense of humor. He could have easily gotten offended, but that would have made him miserable, and would have had little effect on anyone else. By just laughing it off, he was seen as someone with a good sense of humor, he got to enjoy the joke along with everyone else, and that put an end to the ridicule. I know people make fun of your name, and other kids can be mean; but the truth is everyone has something that others make fun of or ridicule. The key is not being free from ridicule, but in how you handle it. Consider the source. Do you really respect their thoughts? Also, if they are making fun of you, and you handle it well, then THEY are the ones that look bad, and not you! Difficulty can help you to become strong in character, or it can destroy you. The secret is, only you have the choice about which will happen!
Is it legal to give your child a different last name?
A2AYou can pretty much give your baby any random surname you want, in the U.S..In certain jurisdictions, in paternity cases, however, the father can petition to have the name changed on the birth certificate to his last name. There are very few jurisdictions where this is the case, but Tennessee is one of them.Barring court petitions to the contrary, you can pretty much give them anything that doesn’t offend local ordinance. California, for example, prohibits:a name that could affect the rights of another person, such as a celebritya curse worda racial sluran obscene or offensive wordsomething deliberately confusing, such as containing punctuation or a number — so no “Robert’); DROP TABLE Students—”xkcd: Exploits of a Mom…but those names may be fine in another state, and if you later move to California… well, they can’t really force your kid to change their name.