Hi Abby - Your piece put a big smile on my face. My last name is Becker. I didn't change it when I married my husband c. ten years ago. His last name is Schwartz. We have 2 children whose last names are Becker-Schwartz. A family of 4 with 3 last names. Ridiculous. And meaningful to us. My son is in second grade at a community Jewish day school & we enjoyed his Chagigat Chumash yesterday. Each of the 40 kids in his class got their own chumash. On them, the teachers engraved their Hebrew names (first names) plus the first Hebrew initial of their last name. Except my son - his last name required 2 Hebrew letters - Bet. Samech. I loved it. (Almost) makes the confusion at the airport security line when we all hand over our passports worth it. He'll get to decide what he wants to do when he marries. In the meantime, when he opens his Chumash, he brings a bit of me and a bit of his father with him.
p.s. Though I felt strongly about keeping Becker, I was willing to go the "traditional" route & give our kids my husband's last name. The hyphenation was his idea. ; )
Hi Abby - Your piece put a big smile on my face. My last name is Becker. I didn't change it when I married my husband c. ten years ago. His last name is Schwartz. We have 2 children whose last names are Becker-Schwartz. A family of 4 with 3 last names. Ridiculous. And meaningful to us. My son is in second grade at a community Jewish day school & we enjoyed his Chagigat Chumash yesterday. Each of the 40 kids in his class got their own chumash. On them, the teachers engraved their Hebrew names (first names) plus the first Hebrew initial of their last name. Except my son - his last name required 2 Hebrew letters - Bet. Samech. I loved it. (Almost) makes the confusion at the airport security line when we all hand over our passports worth it. He'll get to decide what he wants to do when he marries. In the meantime, when he opens his Chumash, he brings a bit of me and a bit of his father with him.
p.s. Though I felt strongly about keeping Becker, I was willing to go the "traditional" route & give our kids my husband's last name. The hyphenation was his idea. ; )