On Men, Nomenclature and the Law
This is a post about men who want to change their names and the laws that limit them.
Michael Buday’s story: Californian Michael Buday (pictured, right) wanted to take the name of his wife, Diana Bijon (pictured, left), when they got married, explaining in this Reuters story that he felt closer to his wife’s father than he did to his own.
But it turned out, a simple name change was easier said than done. “He discovered it would take a $350 fee, court appearances, a public announcement and mounds of paperwork to make change on his driving license that is routine for women who marry,” reads the Reuters piece. Buday found it unfair, so he teamed up with the ACLU and sued.
The suit reportedly led to California changing its policy on name-changes, allowing both married couples and registered domestic partners to choose whichever last name they prefer on their marriage and driving licenses. Said Mark Rosenbaum, the legal director of the Southern California ACLU: “This disposes of the rule in California that the male surname is the marital name to the same trash bin where dowries were once tossed out.”
Steve Kreuscher’s Story: If we were going to change our name to words printed on U.S. currency, we’d like the ring of “E Pluribus Unum.” (We’d go by “Plury” for short, of course.) But Steve Kreuschner, of Zion, Ill., sees things differently: He’s hoping to change his name to “In God We Trust.” That’s right. First name: “In God”; last name: “We Trust.”
While Kreuschner, a Christian, says he’s no longer a member of any organized religion, he told the Chicago Daily Herald that the new name would suit him perfectly. “Going through an “extremely painful” divorce, bouts of severe depression, money problems and a life-threatening home invasion, he believes God protected him through it all,” reads the story. Says Kreuschner: “I’ve had to trust God through incredibly hard times.”
Thing is, his attorney, Alan Pearlman, isn’t sure if a judge will allow it, even though he’s not aware of any rule that would prohibit it. Pearlman says a judge can deny names that are racial slurs or considered obscene, violate trademarks, or duplicate the name of a celebrity. “I doubt a judge would let you change your name to Brad Pitt,” he said.
LB’ers: If a man named Frank can name his kids Moon Unit and Dweezil, what should stop a man named Steve from becoming In God We Trust?
this is the dumbest and most irrelevant topic I’ve ever read on this blog. like reading the “weird news” section of some internet rag. Come on guys, there are a lot of interesting legal issues out there, this is not one of them.
Oh no there is work required to change my name???? HELP ACLU HELP!!!!!! Listen jack, the reason there is so much paper work to do is to prevent things like identity theft. This is just a case of a guy who didn’t want to put the time of day in to fix his names so he went to the courts as a quick fix. Doesn’t surprise me this cry baby is from the West Coast.
The point here is that if a woman can choose to take or not to take her husband’s name, a man should be given the same choice. Why not? If marriage is a reason for changing name, why hsould it be to only one partner? because of feudal patriarchic ideas that the woman is the one who becomes part of her husband’s family?
Whipped, I’d say.
Said Mark Rosenbaum, the legal director of the Southern California ACLU: “This disposes of the rule in California that the male surname is the marital name to the same trash bin where dowries were once tossed out,” said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the Southern California chapter of the ACLU.”
see a problem with that?
My wife had to go through everything he is complaining about when we got married because she went by her middle name and wanted to drop her first name. It is only as simple as described in the 2nd paragraph for women if all they are truly doing is adding another last name. It was a pain to go through the process, but understandable. (Side note: I suggest that parents avoid using the middle name as the name your daughters will go by in order to prevent the red tape for her should she choose to do what my wife did.)
Calm down. There is a valid question, here. What is it your (collective) business why he wants to change his last name? The question is what is the legitimate purpose of making the procedure difficult for one sex as opposed to the other.
wtf???
I agree with Anonymous at 7.13
Why is it that all asinine ACLU stories involve some douche bag from California who apparently has too much free time?
People had that sort of name all over the Bible. Just have a scholar-type translate “In God We Trust” into Aramaic or Hebrew and you’re on your way. It’s probably just Isaac or something.
Why not? They gave me a heck of a time when I wanted to change my name. They need to make it easier.
I would object to the second guy’s petition for name change.
Dead on. LOL
Who cares?
It reminds me of the old joke wherein a guy named Poopoo Budreau - from South Louisiana, of course - went to court to get his name changed when he turned 21.
My state (Iowa) already allows both sexes to change their names upon marriage…my spouse and I took advantage of it and came up with a new last name, and I know some other couples here who have done that as well.
Of course I change it to Poopoo Beauregard.
This man’s wife should be investigated for domestic battery, because she obviously is beating his face in every night for him to want to take her name.
Cue the ridiculously sexist comments…oh, wait. They’re already here.
We can’t help but deeply admire the great shallowness the WSJ blogmeister is willing to float around in. But then again, lawyers are not known for any deep well of an intellect. If any young law student shows any such depth, the school removes it from the student so that he can become a “fine legal mind” and have an excellent “judicial temperament”. In other words, a part of the corrupted robotic machine that is the American legal factory.
I would deny the guy the name change simply because he has a really ugly wife.
You know how feminists get angry at stay at home moms for selling out and betraying their gender and their agenda? That’s how I feel about this guy. Dude, you are totally making the team look bad. How are we, as men, ever going to recover from this?
This can’t be good news for Jane’s Addiction to have their frontman changing his name…
In some culture (for example, Japan and China), where it’s a practice for a man to married into a more prominent family and the groom will take the surname of the bride’s family. The reason is usually for continuation of the family name, or business.
This is actually a two step process. First, the bride’s father (or the bride’s male elder relative) adopts the groom, and then the marriage proceeds.
For bureaucratic reason, the census in Chinese influenced society is somewhat rigid. When a woman is married, she is moved from her family’s registry to her husband’s registry, or in the case I described, the groom moves from his family’s registry to her family’s.
Hey, thanks for the censorship captain nazi. Is Ashby a mans or womans name. Probably a good tranny name.
Here is an old stupid joke:
Man goes to court to have his name changed.
Judge asked: What is your name?
Man responds: Joe Stinkfinger.
Judge: I understand why you would want to change that name. What would you like your new namw to be?
Man: John Stinkfinger.
Judge (confused): Now why would you want to change your name to that?
Man: Because when I meet people, I am tired of them always saying,”Hi Joe, what do you know?”
Great. More name variations to through into the fraud and identity theft arena.
Consistency, people. It would be nice.
Sorry, speedy on the type.
Throw.
Thanks.
Now this is the part that is really offensive to me. What happened to the comments posted by Anonymous at 7:13. Those were very funny, insightful and most appropriate!. Re-post them you scoundrels.
Did I say scoundrels, err I mean lawyers.
What a girl. This is’n a straight marriage, this is a same-sex union. THAT’S what we’re talking about here. This guy is an abomination. Just sayin’…
