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ArchivesRe: Marriage names
in reply to a message by Zaragoza
Hi Zaragoza,
you are absolutely right! This way to call a woman "Mrs. PETER Smith" sounds extremely old fashioned and unfair (at least to someone living in Northern Europe). I remember that I was very surprised when I first heard about it (I guess it was in an American movie...).
Here (I can only speak for Scandinavia and Germany) the married couple can decide which surname they would like to keep.
Maria Nilsson and Per Jansson can be
1) Maria & Åke Nilsson
2) Maria & Åke Jansson
3) Maria Nilsson & Åke Jansson
after their marriage. But you won't ever call Maria "fru Åke Nilsson", that would sound as crazy as "herr Maria Jansson".
There's even the possibility of double names (which I don't like at all by the way)
Maria Schmidt and Paul Müller can be
1) Maria Müller-Schmidt & Paul Müller
2) Maria Schmidt & Paul Schmidt-Müller
Once, in Germany, I heard someone call a lady "Frau Dr. Wegner" even though it was not her title but her husband's. But that's very old fashioned and not common nowadays.
Are there any other traditions or customs in other countries? Would be interesting!
Regards, Satu
you are absolutely right! This way to call a woman "Mrs. PETER Smith" sounds extremely old fashioned and unfair (at least to someone living in Northern Europe). I remember that I was very surprised when I first heard about it (I guess it was in an American movie...).
Here (I can only speak for Scandinavia and Germany) the married couple can decide which surname they would like to keep.
Maria Nilsson and Per Jansson can be
1) Maria & Åke Nilsson
2) Maria & Åke Jansson
3) Maria Nilsson & Åke Jansson
after their marriage. But you won't ever call Maria "fru Åke Nilsson", that would sound as crazy as "herr Maria Jansson".
There's even the possibility of double names (which I don't like at all by the way)
Maria Schmidt and Paul Müller can be
1) Maria Müller-Schmidt & Paul Müller
2) Maria Schmidt & Paul Schmidt-Müller
Once, in Germany, I heard someone call a lady "Frau Dr. Wegner" even though it was not her title but her husband's. But that's very old fashioned and not common nowadays.
Are there any other traditions or customs in other countries? Would be interesting!
Regards, Satu
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Replies
I understand the bit about the lastnames, but why would _Per_ become _Åke_ after the marriage?
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:-DDD
Sorry!!!!! My mistake! Would get too confusing to change first names, too!!
Satu
Sorry!!!!! My mistake! Would get too confusing to change first names, too!!
Satu
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I think it's interesting how in Holland at fast food places, like McDonald's, the workers' name tags don't just say their first names but instead it says "Herr" or "Frau" so and so!!
1
Are you sure you're speaking about Holland here?
Because I live in Holland and in all the McDonald's restaurants that I've been to, there was always ONLY the first name on the name tags. There's no mention of "Mr." or "Mrs." there.
Seeing that you said that the name tags say "Herr" and "Frau", you must be speaking about Germany. In Dutch, "Herr" is 'meneer' and "Frau" is 'mevrouw.'
Regards,
Lu
Because I live in Holland and in all the McDonald's restaurants that I've been to, there was always ONLY the first name on the name tags. There's no mention of "Mr." or "Mrs." there.
Seeing that you said that the name tags say "Herr" and "Frau", you must be speaking about Germany. In Dutch, "Herr" is 'meneer' and "Frau" is 'mevrouw.'
Regards,
Lu
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Could be Germany, lol, I was there last summer too.
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Duh! I just said that it's German in my previous message! ;-)
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i was agreeing with you!!! i forgot to type that!!!:)
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Oh, okay then! :-))
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Herr & Frau
Yes, it must have been in Germany where you saw „Herr“ and „Frau“ plus surname on a name plate. In Germany (as well as in France) you don’t use a foreign person’s first name. People think it’s unrespectful and unfair to call a woman named Lisa Müller “Lisa” when she’s a waitress and “Frau Müller” when she’s a businesswoman.
The trend though is that younger people more often use each other’s first names even though they don’t know each other, but they don’t make any differences (occupation, education etc.).
Regards, Satu
Yes, it must have been in Germany where you saw „Herr“ and „Frau“ plus surname on a name plate. In Germany (as well as in France) you don’t use a foreign person’s first name. People think it’s unrespectful and unfair to call a woman named Lisa Müller “Lisa” when she’s a waitress and “Frau Müller” when she’s a businesswoman.
The trend though is that younger people more often use each other’s first names even though they don’t know each other, but they don’t make any differences (occupation, education etc.).
Regards, Satu
1