marriage and last names.
witch:
Quote from: veilchen on 2005 August 07, 23:09:04
I do it the way we do it at home, pick the last name I like best. In Germany the bride and groom can pick either name, it's completely up to them. That law has been around for about 15+ years now, and no one seems to be complaining. G.
Do many couples choose to take the female's name?
veilchen:
Quote from: witch on 2005 August 08, 02:29:29
Do many couples choose to take the female's name?
Surprisingly, the range is pretty high. I have a friend who works at the county residents affairs office and he tells me the ratio is around 65 to 35 and steadliy balancing out. Germany has a serious problem with population decline, and many couples have only one child. If it's a girl, and the groom has other siblings,, the girl's name will most likely be chosen at marriage. If both are single children then they would have some thinking to do :D
G.
ZephyrZodiac:
Would they then look to first cousins to see if the family name was being continued by one or more of them?
veilchen:
That would be just about the only other option ZZ. In our case that ship has sailed. My father had 3 sisters and 1 brother. The brother had 2 daughters, one got married and took her husband's name. My other cousin would probably only get married if under threat of imminent death, meaning she would not give up her independence for all the tea in China. I have 1 sister and 2 brothers. My sister also took her husbands name (no siblings or cousins in my brother in law's family). One of my brothers adopted his wife's daughter from a previous marriage and refuses to have any other children. My other brother... well, let's just say that the odds of him getting married are slim to none. All hope of carrying on the name are on the adopted child, otherwise the family name that can be traced all the way back to the 13th century will be gone. Almost the same goes for my mother's lineage.
Oh well, I don't really care all that much about it, but the families are of some social prominence in the region, so my father is not too happy. Ah, the complications of European lineages.
G.
ZephyrZodiac:
Well, I think it's much the same everywhere in the "civilised" world! I'll bet you there's an Ozzie sheep farmer who can trace his lineage right back to the first convict ship who would hate for the family name to die with him!
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