Two Become Weinrick

Re “What’s in a Name?” (by Lynn Smith, Nov. 22):

As I read, I anticipated finding another couple who “avoided creating a mouthful” by combining names as my husband and I did in 1978. My husband’s name prior to our marriage was Weintraub. My maiden name was Myrick. Inasmuch as we were both independent individuals joining into the ultimate partnership, we took a portion of each independent entity and created Weinrick. (We considered Mytraub but it sounded more like an illness or back ailment than a suitable surname.)

Smith’s point relative to the process for a change in name with the Social Security Administration brought back a Weinrick story. After an early morning trip to the DMV for new drivers’ IDs, we proceeded to the Social Security Administration. When the doors opened, a flood of women and my husband lined up at the “Name Change” counter. The three women preceding us were processed by a clerk whose fluid movement through forms and “please sign here, pick up your card from the clerk on the end,” displayed an uncanny ability to deal with the routine. My application swiftly flowed through the channel. As I stood before the card-typing clerk, I heard the competent clerk sympathetically inform my husband that men don’t change their names when they get married. With card in hand, I returned to my husband’s side. After considerable discussion, a supervisor conference, demonstrations of where ‘Weinrick’ appeared on our marriage certificate, if folded just so, and a sudden concern by clerks and supervisors that we could be attorneys preparing for a test case, a card was typed. The parting remark by the competent clerk was, “The computer back East might reject this yet.”

The change has been accepted by SSA computer, our employers, military records, passport officials and relatives. We did not go through probate. We are proud of what we were and what we jointly became. As my husband so aptly summarized it when we first entertained the idea, “I like it, it will remind me of the commitment we have made, each time I sign my name.”

JANICE L. WEINRICK