It began to surface in English common law in the ninth century. That’s when lawmakers began to consider the legalities surrounding personhood, families, and marriage. It is also when women’s selfhood further eroded, as it become Common Law.

Common Law recognizes unions created by mutual agreement and public behavior. There are many Common Laws, mutable by each State of the Union and normally based only in public behavior, while being maintained by elected Judges.

Becoming tradition, this doctrine of coverture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coverture proclaimed women had no independent legal identity apart from their spouse. It actually began upon the birth of a female baby – who was given her father’s surname – changing only at her marriage, at which point her name was automatically changed to that of her new husband.

So far back in time, the doctrine of coverture merged requiring women thereafter to be considered “one” with their husbands, and to assume the husband’s surname as their own. Women were then prevented from entering into contracts, engaging in litigation, participating in business, or exercising ownership over real estate or personal property.

This caused a feminist uprising occurring in time with the passage of Married Women’s Property Acts in several U.S. states in the mid-1800s. Under these acts, women gained individual legal status for purposes of signing contracts, engaging in business and commerce, and making purchases to acquire property. Since, the woman’s name had its own independent legal significance, the number of women opting to retain their birth name began to rise.

Much, much later, in the 1970’s a Tennessee Judge ordered a woman be free to use her given name to registering to vote. Around the same time, the prefix “Ms.” emerged, allowing women to assert their identity apart from their marital status.

Today, 20% of American women retain their birth name after marriage. A lower percentage than in the 1970s and 1980s. Back then, many women saw keeping their birth name as an equality issue. For today’s brides the choice is more practical, rooted in professional identity.

The future of married surnames remains to be seen, with the advent of gay marriage. While many newlyweds choose to retain their birth name, some couples have opted for the non-traditional route of combining parts of both surnames to create a totally new identity. 

Your identity is more than the names you use when asked, “What’s your name?”

I believe it should not be coded to tell your life story, as in Mrs. or thoroughly modern Ms.

Sovereignty is your full right and power over yourself, without any interference from outside sources or bodies.

Your name, repeated over and over by you and others, always referring to you and only you, wears on you and your sense of identity. You are the sum of your accomplishments. Commonly, you are a sensitive creature with emotions directing you to a feeling of peace and contentment. I suggest you maintain your sovereignty.

As always I welcome your comments.

Today’s Wardrobe Tip: When you mistakenly put a white garment in the wash with new clothes that bleed color onto your whites, don’t despair. Use a product called OUT White Brite. It removes rust, yellowing, red clay and color bleeds. It’s important to completely follow the directions. It works like magic.

Today’s blog is taken in-part from:

Stephanie Reid, https://seattlebridemag.com/expert-wedding-advice/history-behind-maiden-vs-married-names

Wikipedia.https://en.wikipedia.org/

Today I want to focus on what stops you from growing? I have an idea all of you have a number of reasons and I know I can dissipate each one of them for you. For example, other people’s opinions, busy schedules, pressures at work, focus on kids, abuse at home, chronic illness, low self-esteem, too little of this or that, too much of this or that. I invite you to comment below on your block(s) to growth.

All of them could fit under the label of opinion. Funny thing about opinions, they are often flimsy and 99.9% of the time they do not apply. I come from a family of lawyers. With that line of thinking around my young impressionable mind, I learned a very important concept. Everything that comes out of a person’s mouth is an opinion. I say AN opinion and not THEIR opinion because opinions can change when more facts are taken into consideration. Only a recognized judge (we imagined them while we were kids) could judge which opinion applied and only in certain cases. See what I mean by flimsy? Let’s have fun for a moment and assign YOU as the judge of you. What do you say?

With you as the judge of what happens to you, what happens to your feelings. Would you still have your blocks to growth, when YOU ARE THE JUDGE., the boss of you, as the Italians say. “I’m the boss of me!”

Bold as it may be, let me suggest . . . YOU be the judge of you.

I say if it feels good and brings lasting peace to you, its right and its leading to Your Personal Legend. You are led directly to your purpose in life. Many people are there and they know it. They can feel it. The rest of us can become aware of our purpose in life by using these tools, I-C-A-I, Imagination, Creativity, Awareness and Intuition.

For fun, put the title of JUDGE in front of your name. Like this, Judge Pasha, Judge Tommy, Judge Jack, Judge Kathy, Judge Judy! There was a time when my son was a little boy and he was angry, feeling something was unfair. With great assertion he said to me, “I’m gonna tell Judge Judy!” Today he is a self-assured, self-directed professional with a great family life.

You can take your life into your own hands.