Ms. Jr.

Why don't women name their children after themselves like men do? Should we?

I just realized that something unusual has happened in my family. My mother was a "junior". Why it took me this long to figure this out is a mystery to me, but I think it is truly unusual. Mom's name was Lorena and her mother's name was Lorena, making my mom Lorena Jr. Now, there was never any big deal made about this. We never put Lorena Zoss Jr. on any correspondence. I don't remember anyone referring to her as J.R. or "junior". I can't remember her ever even acknowledging it.

So I have to think about my grandmother who, in 1923, decided to break with tradition and name her daughter after herself. Grandma must have been a radical feminist for her time, and might even be considered one in our times. If anyone else knows of women named after their mothers please let me know. On reflection, Grandma was a piece of work. She once made a Greyhound bus driver drop her at my mother's front door in suburban Chicago...but that's another story.

I'm curious about this. Why is it that with all the wonderful relationships between mothers and daughters, and all the heroic things that women do, few women name their own children after themselves? Why does it seem perfectly logical to celebrate a man's accomplishments by passing his first name to his heirs but not for a woman? I suppose it could be buried in the tradition of a woman giving up her maiden name at the altar. In that case the female "junior" isn't a completely identical name. But in this culture where women retain their maiden names or use them for various purposes (like mine), is this a tradition we can start? Maybe all first born daughters should be "juniors" to reflect the enormous contribution made by the women before them. Isn't naming our children really Womenzwerk anyway?

So what do you think? Should we start the tradition of naming our daughters after ourselves?