(And, no, I don't mean mort(e).)
In English, we have the word né(e) to refer to the surname a person was born with, most frequently used (as née) to refer to a woman's name before marriage. For example, suppose Elizabeth Bennet marries Fitzwilliam Darcy and changes her name to Elizabeth Darcy. If she is subsequently profiled in her alumni magazine or hometown newspaper, they might refer to her as "Elizabeth Darcy (née Bennet)" so that people who knew her before her marriage but lost track of her will recognize her.
We also need a word that refers to the name a person would later adopt, but did not have at the time at which they're being referred to. For example, suppose, sometime after her marriage, a childhood photo of Elizabeth is published somewhere. It would be inaccurate to describe this as a photo of Elizabeth Darcy, because she wasn't Elizabeth Darcy in the photo. However, if the caption says "Elizabeth Bennet", people who know her as Elizabeth Darcy might not realize who it is.
I know we can totally express this concept clearly by arranging words into phrases and sentences, but I want a simple one-word term that will express it as elegantly as né(e). Extrapolated logically from French, it would be something like marié(e) or devenu(e), but I'd prefer something more elegant.
7 comments:
Since né(e) is actually the ( French word for "born, and that's where it comes from and why we now use it as we do in English, wouldn't marié(e) work well for the"opposite" meaning as the name taken at marriage?
Marié(e) would do the job, but I was hoping for something exponentially cooler than I could ever think of myself.
"now". Elizabeth Bennett (now Darcy). KISS.
Dude! I was so caught up in the French I didn't even think of that. Gold star for you!
I've pondered this since contributors who have become known by their partners name then separate. So I use "Hayley Scott een Mansell". It's just nee backwards meaning "was married, reverted to maiden name".
"mariée" is fabulous. I can't believe I found this blog post by using Google. "now" is very clever; however a drawback is that it would not make sense for someone who is deceased. So I have adopted "mariée" and hereby make it official by using it at a Website I've been constructing about my mom: www.RosamondeSafier.com (and click on "TIMELINE"). Take heed, Webster's! Thank you, I.S.
The abbreviation épse is used in some legal documents, for épouse, meaning "married".
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