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Book Giveaway: See Mom Run

Jan 25 Posted by nancyjrab

Have you ever wondered what would happen if two hyphenated last namers got married?  Like, let’s say Harrison VonHarrison-Lundquist married Muffy Worcester-Wolfe. (All names are completely fabricated. If anyone out there has either of those names, I’m sorry…in so many ways.)  Would they name their children Maximillian and Genevieve VonHarrisonlundquist-Worcesterwolfe???

Notice the last names I’ve fabricated.  Not so very ethnic, are they?  Jews don’t hyphenate.  Take me, for instance.  My maiden name is Rabinowitz, my married name is Friedman.  I considered hyphenating for about twelve seconds.  And then I realized I’d be Nancy Rabinowitz-Friedman; I might as well introduce myself has Nancy Double-Jew.  Twice the guilt!!  Twice the neuroses!   So when I got married I just decided to get rid of my middle name, Jean, and replace it with my maiden name.  That way, the clerk explained, I would legally be able to use either my maiden name or my married name. If I hyphenated, he told me, I would always have to use both names.  Quite a mouthful, don’t you think?

For a moment there, I considered going with a one-name moniker:: Madonna, Cher, Bjork, Elmo.  I tried Nan – but that sounded like a pug-nosed, perky cheerleader.  And I feel pretty confident with my big-nosed, sarcastic, pessimist persona.  I thought  I could take my new initials, NRF, and call myself Nerf.  Only that sounded like a squishy ball, and frankly, I didn’t need any name-based reminders of my physique.

Maybe my husband and I should have combined our names to create a new one. We could have been the Friedowitz family, or my personal favorite, the Rabinimans. Then again, maybe not.

So I stuck with the old switcheroo – sometimes one name, sometimes the other.

What’s in a name?  A lot.  If there weren’t, there wouldn’t be websites devoted to helping us choose names for our kids, or forums online for women deciding whether or not to give up their maiden  names.  Hilary Rodham Clinton wouldn’t be, well, Hilary Rodham Clinton.  She’d be Hilary Clinton or Hilary Rodham.  Not both.  Names are complicated.  Maybe that’s why Elizabeth Taylor never changed hers.  Imagine if she had, she’d be Elizabeth Taylor Hilton Wilding Todd Fisher Burton Burton Warner Fortensky. (I think she stayed Taylor not for the celebrity, but because somewhere in her mind she knew she’d one day marry a man named Fortensky – and she just couldn’t bear to called that.)

Once we had kids, it got a bit complicated, but I figured it out. Generally, anything professional – writing, producing – I used Rabinowitz.  Personally, I used Friedman, since I wanted to share a name with my kids. Aside from getting doubles of every catalogue in the universe, it’s worked out pretty well for the past 12 years.

But this fall, when I decided to publish as Nancy Friedman for the first time. I don’t know why I did it. I guess I just figured that at this point, I’ve pretty much stopped working, and most of the people I know, know me as Nancy Friedman. So why not publish that way?  Plus, I think it kinda bugged my husband that everything else I’d ever written had been under my maiden name. And I wanna keep him happy.

Now is where the giveaway kicks in (yep, you had to read this far to find it!).  I’m giving away two copies of the new anthology See Mom Run, edited by Role Mommy Founder Beth Feldman. It’s a collection of essays by moms…including me.  And it’s really, really, funny.  I promise. Just leave a comment below with your “dancer name” for a chance to win. What’s a dancer name? It’s the name of your first pet, follwed by the name of the street you grew up on.  If you were a stripper, it would be the name you’d dance under — hence “dance name.”  I’d be Honey Whig.

Hey — maybe I should publish under that next time!

Good luck!

Contest ends Friday, January 29th at 11pm.  Must be 18 years or older. US residents only. Two winners will be announced Saturday, Jan 30th.

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Filed Under: Family, giveaway, Humor, Husbands, Laughs, Marriage Tagged With: giveaway, hyphenated names, see mom run book, taking your husband's last name

Comments

  1. Billy KOlber says

    January 25, 2010 at 2:17 pm

    My dancer name: Rover Clarence. Might work as a porn or Starbucks name. In fact, I think I’m going to start using it. Having been a hyphenate, I agree. Don’t.

  2. Linda White says

    January 25, 2010 at 3:32 pm

    gotta be a funny book and Id love to win it!

  3. mindy says

    January 25, 2010 at 4:14 pm

    tweety fish sounds a bit risque thanks

  4. dorothy l says

    January 25, 2010 at 4:35 pm

    dancer name tiger avenue

  5. Kika Rocha says

    January 25, 2010 at 4:37 pm

    My dancer name, Benji Murray…hmmm I’m not sure about dancer. How about NFL star. Well I was one who did the ol’ switcheroo but have secretly wish I hadn’t…shhh don’t tell my hubby.

  6. Alicia Webster says

    January 25, 2010 at 6:57 pm

    “Charlie Taylor”

  7. Renee C says

    January 25, 2010 at 10:54 pm

    Tiny Highway 10, just doesn’t have that ring to it.

  8. Tari Lawson says

    January 26, 2010 at 6:48 am

    My Dancer name is Peanut Main.

  9. Heidi Bokor says

    January 26, 2010 at 12:44 pm

    My name would be Shadow Elizabeth! Flipped the other way around would sound better! Thanks for this giveaway. I would love reading this. 🙂

  10. Dawn says

    January 26, 2010 at 3:09 pm

    Hmmm…
    Hello!
    My Name is:
    Stormy South

    Seen nightly in my own bedroom, thank you very much 🙂
    Well, not actually seen since it’s dark and HeMan Hubby is a asleep… so, oh, never mind.

    The book sounds good… I could use a laugh after days and days with kids home from school…come on new semester!

  11. Cass says

    January 26, 2010 at 5:38 pm

    Fun book i’d like to win for little Jordan !

  12. Soliloquy says

    January 26, 2010 at 6:24 pm

    I SO regret not dropping my middle name and replacing it with my maiden name when I got married. Alas, I was young and had no idea it was an option. I’d totally do it different – especially considering people assume I’m a MAN when they see my name. Doesn’t help that my middle name IS a man’s name.

    Maybe I’ll just go by Kitty Ashley. NO mistaking that one for a man.

  13. REBECCA says

    January 26, 2010 at 7:28 pm

    Tom East-maybe a mail stripper

  14. Melissa M. says

    January 27, 2010 at 10:29 am

    My dancer name would be Gator Londerry. Probably not a very good one 🙂

  15. Lex says

    January 27, 2010 at 5:46 pm

    BEAR HARVARD

  16. Misty VanEpps says

    January 27, 2010 at 8:17 pm

    pepper water
    wow, thats funny.

  17. Ann harmon says

    January 27, 2010 at 9:53 pm

    My ” dancer name” is Smokey Aldrich. Interesting

  18. karen says

    January 28, 2010 at 12:45 pm

    I would be Sally-Snowwhite Kelley. Thanks.

  19. Ed Nemmers says

    January 28, 2010 at 4:55 pm

    Shoo Shoo Fontana!

  20. wendy wallach says

    January 29, 2010 at 12:28 am

    ” Tiger FDR Drive”…Looks like the tips wont be flowing with that name!

    madamerkf at aol dot com

  21. susan smoaks says

    January 29, 2010 at 9:50 am

    dimple$$

  22. Rosey says

    January 29, 2010 at 12:15 pm

    PennyHancock

  23. Becky Grady says

    January 29, 2010 at 12:21 pm

    Deadly Bristol. I like it!

    rlgrady[at]yahoo[dot]com

  24. Candie L says

    January 29, 2010 at 12:42 pm

    My name would be Panther Hillcrest. Wow my real name almost works better. If I used my current pet’s name and our current street, it would be Tatum Cedar. That is not too bad

  25. Valeen N says

    January 29, 2010 at 4:12 pm

    My dancer name would be Lady Erie. Hmmm…….

  26. kathy pease says

    January 29, 2010 at 4:37 pm

    i would be pierre summer…oooooooooh la la it sounds so french..lol

  27. Ellen Brower says

    January 29, 2010 at 7:45 pm

    Candy Croft….

  28. Mary Casper says

    January 29, 2010 at 8:46 pm

    would love to read this

  29. Jane Hoh says

    January 29, 2010 at 9:44 pm

    My dancer name would be Skipper Jefferson hmmm. Thanks for the opportunity to win.

  30. Lily Kwan says

    January 29, 2010 at 10:12 pm

    My dancer name would be Tiger Ranger.

  31. Veronica Garrett says

    January 29, 2010 at 10:29 pm

    JackMoonBridgeRoad.

  32. Melanie says

    January 29, 2010 at 11:49 pm

    Teddy Dummyline.

    I sound like a man..

  33. Gianna says

    January 29, 2010 at 11:54 pm

    Frisky Fox haha

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