Feminine surname endings in America?

there a US law mandating that -ska names msut be changed to -ski? Anyone know?

is that merely by custom and personal preference or is there a US law mandating that -ska names msut be changed to -ski?

however, the rule is probably written in law.

Yes there is law against it, I read it in a book by Davies in Europe: east and west.

My question is the following: is that merely by custom and personal preference or is there a US law mandating that -ska names msut be changed to -ski?

I thought that first generation lady immigrants from Poland (and presumably Pepikistan) keep the female form of the name but their female children born in the new country take the father's name.

I hadn't heard of female immigrants changing their name and if they do it's probably because of concerns about confusing people that don't know Polish.

but their female children born in the new country take the father's name.

But how can a zero cultured redneck understand something like that?

sirname

surname

what's that have to do with anything? it has more to do with the english language and tradition.

People in Poland Would think that Victoria Kowalski would be an transvestite if she would visit her ancestral country

Yeah, I think 'surname' in American English sounds kind of artificial or old-fashioned, people say 'first name' and 'last name'. That's often the case even on official forms.

Do Brits really use 'surname' or is it a fossil left over from language textbooks?

It's about respecting other cultures. Kowalski/Kowalska

People in Poland Would think that Victoria Kowalski would be an transvestite if she would visit her ancestral country since she is using the masculin form in her surname... Is that fair?

Polish people know that Polish names tend to revert to the masculine singular outside of Poland.

If Victoria Kowalski were to visit Poland, almost everyone would just assume she's the child of Polish emigrants.

mafketis

Example: People in Poland Would think that Victoria Kowalski would be an transvestite if she would visit her ancestral country since she is using the masculin form in her surname... Is that fair?

Btw, in US we don't use the term 'surname' so much, so it's not that familiar. We generally just say first name/ last name.

(-calling petty leg humper Plk123 for another cheap shot!)

She has to by law??

Kinda weird that a woman changes her last name and not even to her new husband's name, technically.

girl names must end in 'A'...

law or not, female always gets a feminine everything..

But is it a law or just a cultural rule? Must a women do it?

Generally Polish people perceive Kowalski and Kowalska as different forms of the same name (like Smith and Smith's, Smiths and Smiths' are different forms of the same name in English) and not two different names)

Czechs routinely modify the names of non-Czech women to conform to their system so you'll see references to Hillary Clintonova

Now I relly don't know what the rules for a woman born in Canada as Anna Kowalski would be if she wanted to get a Polish passport.

I was not allowed to change the first letter of my surname to Ł, even though I had my father's Polish birth certificate where the Ł is clearly evident.

i would imagine that it was automatic to give one name to all family members... based on the husband, father, senior male.

It is just the lack of cases (almost) and conjugation in English that makes Americans unable to understand that there are e.g. feminine and masculine forms of nouns, names including.

But is it a law or just a cultural rule? Must a women do it?

Now I relly don't know what the rules for a woman born in Canada as Anna Kowalski would be if she wanted to get a Polish passport.

Ok, but try puting that on an official form over here and it wouldn't be accepted, the clerk or computer will reject it as a different name.

They even change others' names when refering to them??! Now that's just getting crazy! :D

Having gone through this incredibly frustrating process recently, government bureaucrats WOULD NOT ALLOW me to take the feminine form of my surname (and yeah, Canadians are actually familiar with the term), even though I speak the language and use the feminine form in the Polish community.

My Polish birth certificate had to be transcribed in an identical fashion to my Canadian one. I was not allowed to change the first letter of my surname to Ł, even though I had my father's Polish birth certificate where the Ł is clearly evident.

Idiotic bureacrats.

Yep. We don't play that over here.

both of my parents use their own forms and it doesn't seem to be an issue whatsoever... but sometimes people are surprised when i tell them who my mom is as they don't recognize our names as being the same..

There is an increasing trend among Polish brides to keep their surname and to add that of their new husband.

Another option, apart from the woman simply not changing anything, is for the husband to change his name to that of his wife, although I can't imagine that is done very often.

There is an increasing trend among Polish brides to keep their surname and to add that of their new husband.

Polmed will correct me if I am wrong here.