What's in a name - Painters are represented but Decorator was never the style.
Has surname generation stagnated?
When did it stop?
Did someone draw a line some time ago and decide that we will have no more family names?
Aren't we long overdue for some new ones?
While Thatcher, Fletcher, Smith etc are starting to lose their historical relevance and trade relationship, becoming nothing but names, we must be due for thousands of new ones to reflect modern occupations and skills.
Some, of course, missed their chance and will never see themselves as a family brand. Potential names from occupations like Linotype Operator, Labourer, Scullery Maid and Night Soil Collector will never happen, but why did Dentist never make an appearance, or Sharemilker? Gunfighter, Gambler and Conman seem to have missed their chance, too.
What about names associated with all things digital, or something to do with modern technology? Will Programmer ever be prefixed with Mr or Ms? Or Courier?
Why are Electrician, Excavator or Tattooist not surnames? Would families have a problem with Exporter, Designer or George and Gladys Graphic Designer?
Surely Gasfitter should have made an appearance by now.
We have Painter in a few spelling variations, but why did Decorator never make the grade? Gamer could be a possibility, as could Engineer and Thespian.
What I do see in the very near future is a problem with hyphens.
As more people are retaining their family names and adding them to their spouses' names with a hyphen, what happens when hyphenated names hook up with hyphenated names?
And when those hook up with further hyphenated names? Will we end up with multiple surnames and multiple hyphens, and what will that mean to the already too small fields in digital on-line forms? What will that mean as memories degrade because people rely more on technology to remember?
Will people forget their own names because they're too complex?
Or, and here's an idea, we could introduce Hyphen as a new surname.
Even just one kiwi death can have a devastating impact on kiwi recovery, Helen Leahy said.