Why Southern Women Never Need the "Power Hyphen"

It was French 101 at Meredith College, my senior year. In the room there was a din of laughter and chatter as we filled those precious few minutes before class would begin. Among my group of friends, the topic of discussion on that particular day had been baby names - not an altogether unpopular topic among college seniors who are engaged or nearly so, with dreams for family intermixing with those of career. I remember one dear friend whose last name was Anderson piping up "Well my first child will be named Anderson, because that'll work for either a boy or a girl." I smiled to myself.

We've all met him, John William Thomas Wedgewood Worthington IX...he exists in some version in every fraternity house from Alabama to Virginia, a mouthful of a family name passed down from generation to generation. In a way it lends to a sense of solidarity, the likelihood is that whatever place the man held in society  nine generations ago that started the whole thing is still held by Worthington 9.0. In another sense, its seems to be a reminder of the strong patriarchy that still exists in the South. It seems archaic. After all, we're behind the times down here, right? Or are we?

What most don't know is that Mr. John William Thomas Wedgewood Worthington IX has a sister or a brother, whose first name is something like Hudson, Anderson, Dale, Nixon - family names from Mama's side of the family tree. People who aren't from the south won't have a clue what's going on - who names a girl Anderson?! But every Southern girl knows this is nothing short of one small victory for feminism. Our little girls might be dragging Daddy's name behind them, but they're charging forward with Mama's.

For generations, southern women have been sneaking their grandmother's, their mother's, or sometimes even their own maiden names into the names of their children. To be honest, its one of my favorite traditions. Maternal surnames become first names and middle names in nearly every southern family, and what really makes this tradition amazing is that it transforms a name that once connected a child to his or her father into a name that connects that child to their mother.

All in all I'm not totally knocking the hyphen, not only can it be the new equal sign when it comes to family names, but sometimes it results in some pretty fabulous sounding last names. However, my point is that down here we may still name our sons John William Thomas Wedgewood Worthington IX, but don't let it fool you, Mama's name will work her way in there somehow, too.