Re: CHAT: new names (was: Re: Bopomofo and pinyin)

At 20:38 21/01/00 -0500, you wrote:
>
>I changed my name after I was married, and it really wasn't
>difficult. I did a complete first-middle-last change. The most
>expensive part in Delaware is running the required notice in the
>newspaper. Court fees came to about $50, and the ad cost me $100
>to run the notice for 3 weeks in the local paper. Of course, in
>the US, it varies by state, and other countries, obviously, have
>their own rules and procedures, but if you really hate your name
>(or just have a different one that you prefer), it is worth it.
>
        It's quite difficult to change your name in France, but nearly free (court
expenses only, and I'm not even sure you have to pay anything). You just
have to ask for it in a tribunal. The problem is that "not liking" your
name is generally not considered to be a good reason to change your name.
Only people who have "insulting" names (names that happen to be indentical
to an insult, or ridiculous) have no difficulty to change it. You must have
a reason of this kind to be able to change your name. If not, the only
possibility is "revival": to take the name of a ancestor of yours which has
completely disappeared, in order to "revive" it. The problem is that you
have to make a file with evidence that it's worth reviving this name... I
saw once that a "revival" had taken more than 10 years to be accepted.
Anyway, it's nearly impossible in France to create one's name and have it
officialised.

        On the other hand, two married people have a "right of use" of the other
partner's name. That means that the woman can use her own name, her husband
name or even make a compound name out of them. But the man can do the same
with his wife's name (it's not of common use, but law allows it). The most
famous example is the husband of Irène Curie, daughter of Pierre and Marie
Curie. His name was Joliot (I don't remember his first name :( ), and when
he married Irène, she kept her last name and he became Joliot-Curie :) . In
fact, I even think it's this case that made the change in the law that
permits that now.

P.S.: I study in the school where Pierre and Marie Curie discovered Radium
by the way :) .

                                                        Christophe Grandsire
                                                |Sela Jemufan Atlinan C.G.

"Reality is just another point of view."

homepage : http://rainbow.conlang.org