WHAT'S IN A SURNAME?

 

(Her name remained Hillary Rodham after she married Bill Clinton for many years) 

What’s in a surname?

by Maya (Crace) Contreras (Writer, Playwright, Actor) 

Since tomorrow is ‘Super Tuesday’ I thought I would talk about the ‘Rodham’ in Hillary Rodham Clinton’s name.

 

Rodham is her Maiden name, and back in the 1990’s many people took issue with the fact that she wanted to keep both her maiden and married name as her full moniker or as politics goes, her nom de guerre.

Some looked at that action as emasculation to her husband. 

However, Hillary didn’t take her husband’s name at the beginning of their marriage – she took it once her husband started ascending in politics. Hillary thought she would appease potential critics by including her married name with her maiden name. 

One lesson she learned right away: there is no please all of the people all of the time, or more aptly, there’s never pleasing anyone in politics.

She was pressured to drop her maiden name while her husband ran for President in order to ‘soften’ her image for the press and public.

 (Above is some of the other sh*t she had to put up with besides changing her name)  

So what is in a name? It can be quite complicated for some, others, not so much (Cher and Madonna anyone?).

I fall into the former category.

I was raised by my mother, and not by my father. When my mother passed away I dropped my fathers last name as my surname and used my mothers name “Contreras”, which I still do to this day. However, I am married, and my legal last name is “Crace” and that is denoted on all of my legal identification.

So why don’t I just use my husband’s name and drop the Contreras? Because Contreras is part of my identity; it was my beloved mother and grandfather’s surname (both of whom I lost when I was a teenager). I’ve written under the name “Contreras” my entire professional life. It would be strange for me to change that now. That doesn’t mean I don’t love my husband and his surname, I just treasure my heritage and family’s history, and my last name reflects that.

I’m sure Hillary is proud of her maiden name, the identity she has built within it, but she has said she has dropped the 'Rodham' for good. When she is sworn in on January 20, 2017 hopefully ‘Rodham’ makes a quick appearance while making a little bit of herstory. 

 

Maya Contreras is a playwright/writer/actor living in Jersey City with her husband, fellow writer, Bobby Crace. She likes dancing in her living room, making short videos on Instagram, drinking tequila with her friends, and writing at her favorite coffeeshop -Mod Cup. She also hosts a talk show over food @tableforetwo 
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