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We don’t need to “rank” cultures to recognize that individual aspects of culture are better adapted to current environments. My dad always says that “Banglades
by rayiner 2y ago
We don’t need to “rank” cultures to recognize that individual aspects of culture are better adapted to current environments.
My dad always says that “Bangladeshis don’t know how to name kids.” We don’t have surnames, but instead two given names. And everyone uses a nickname anyway that’s unrelated to the legal names. That is just inefficient and unwieldy in a modern world where social circles are larger than a village. So I have my dad’s last name and so do my kids. None of us like the name and it has no historical value but it makes things more efficient going forward.
- dctoedt 2y ago> We don’t have surnames, but instead two given names. ... So I have my dad’s last name .... Did your dad choose your last name? (Which, I've read, has a specific meaning in Hebrew, but I'm guessing your family isn't Jewish.)
- rayiner 2y agoMy parents adopted the western practice and gave us his last name, which he doesn’t share with anyone else in his family. It’s Arabic not Hebrew, but I imagine the words are related. My wife’s last name is in the Domesday book, and they have extensive record of their family’s activities in the U.S.—which is a cool thing you can do when you have surnames! I feel somewhat guilty that the west coast line of the name will die out in favor of a name that has no family significance to anyone, but oh well.