Emily Ignored by cruel Harrington-Alexander combo

As we saw, when Honor married Hamish and Emily, they took the name Harrington-Alexander. What happened to Emily's last name? Why wasn't that included? Was it simply that he was a duke and she a duchess? How do we think that that made Emily feel?

Keith_w wrote:As we saw, when Honor married Hamish and Emily, they took the name Harrington-Alexander. What happened to Emily's last name? Why wasn't that included? Was it simply that he was a duke and she a duchess? How do we think that that made Emily feel?

The default tradition on Manticore is for single surnames, and Emily, though related to the aristocracy in many ways, was an "Honorable," not a "Lady" before they married. When two noble families wed, they normally take the surname of the higher ranking member of the marriage. In Honor's case, she chose to follow the Beowulfan tradition of taking a single surname (her mom, who rejected so much of her Beowulf "social prison" opted for the Manticoran tradition) but the names were combinedto reflect the higher peerage title. The White haven title goes clear back to the Founding, but the Harrington titles are far higher ranked.

There's also that Stephanie tradition that there will always be a Harrington family on Sphinx. After the Yawata Strike, they can't afford to lose any off spring, no matter how hard Alfred and Allison are working on it!

runsforcelery wrote:

Keith_w wrote:As we saw, when Honor married Hamish and Emily, they took the name Harrington-Alexander. What happened to Emily's last name? Why wasn't that included? Was it simply that he was a duke and she a duchess? How do we think that that made Emily feel?

The default tradition on Manticore is for single surnames, and Emily, though related to the aristocracy in many ways, was an "Honorable," not a "Lady" before they married. When two noble families wed, they normally take the surname of the higher ranking member of the marriage. In Honor's case, she chose to follow the Beowulfan tradition of taking a single surname (her mom, who rejected so much of her Beowulf "social prison" opted for the Manticoran tradition) but the names were combinedto reflect the higher peerage title. The White haven title goes clear back to the Founding, but the Harrington titles are far higher ranked.

There's also that Stephanie tradition that there will always be a Harrington family on Sphinx. After the Yawata Strike, they can't afford to lose any off spring, no matter how hard Alfred and Allison are working on it!

Thank you for that response RFC, I figured as much.