What's in a Name?

When I first considered running for office, another legislator warned me not to use my maiden name.  "Now, you may be a feminist -- I hope you are!  But you don't want that perception; it won't help your campaign."  Because I respect this lawmaker, I had to think long and hard about this advice.  In the end, I decided that if I did not use my maiden name, a good portion of my constituents might not even recognize me on the ballot.  Worse yet, I might not recognize myself.

Babb is the name I was given at birth.  I grew up as a Babb.  The Babb name took me through church and school.  It is the name on my birth certificate, my high school diploma, my awards and scholarships, and my business degree.

When I married Derek Taylor, Jeannie Babb did not cease to exist.  How disappointed my new husband would have been if she had!  Derek fell in love with Jeannie Babb, and that is who he married.  He never asked me to give up my name.  Initially I took his name for family & legal purposes, becoming Jeannie Babb Taylor, but I continued answering to Jeannie Babb professionally.  Since I worked for a Babb company that I helped to found, a name change would have caused a loss of credibility among new customers and associates.  As a Babb, I was immediately recognized as a principal and owner, or at least a junior heir. 

My two names collided later when I was visibly pregnant at the workplace.  Suddenly the assumptions changed.  A pregnant Babb must be someone's wife, and Southern women do not generally keep their maiden names, so I was constantly asked "Are you Roger Babb's wife or Steve Babb's?"  Roger is my father; Steve is my dear uncle.  That's when I added the Taylor to my professional communications.  A company associate who is kin by marriage, gleefully told me he was glad to see I wasn't calling myself Babb anymore.  He was mistaken.  I am still me, the child of my father and my mother.  Their image is stamped upon my face, their blood courses through my veins, and by God's grace I may attain some of the dreams they had for me as they gazed into my tiny face for the first time.  I am still a Babb, as surely as I am still Jeannie.  Marriage has added to the richness of my life . . . and taken nothing away.

Jeannie Babb Taylor
www.voteformom.com

Comments

[Amyl]

Good for you for not bowing to pressure!

The issue of name changing is often brushed off as unimportant, but I think it is quite a big deal...it is another indicator of how women are expected to make sacrifices or risk being labelled selfish. Even among reasonably progressive people I have come across people who are uneasy at the concept of a married woman keeping her name.

[Cindy Little]

good for you, stick at it, pregnancy isnt a disability, just a temporary state of being, 9 months and then back toi being your self, well near enough