Van Meter Is Two Words

According to a 2004 census, there are over 16 million inhabitants of the Netherlands, 58 million Italians, and 82 million Germans. These are just some of the countries that leap to mind with the characteristic of multi-word surnames. As a young woman of Dutch descent, I commonly run into problems with a surname that includes a space, and this always makes me scratch my head. Is it really so uncommon to bubble in a blank spot in your SAT paperwork? Are two- and three-word surnames so confusing to the lucky rest of the world? This week, my parents and I transferred ownership of the ol' family car to my name. Congratulations to me, I am an official automotive owner! According to the DMV, of course, there is a hyphen in my last name. Hyphen?? Add to that the reality that both my parents' drivers licenses bear different spacing, and we are one confusing family to this government!

Or let's discuss ways in which mail has been addressed to me, Martha Van Meter:

-Martha Meter
-Meter, Martha Van
-Martha V. Meter

And my favorite? Meter Martha. That was on an envelope from Oral Roberts University. You can bet that recruiting attempt didn't make it past the letter opener.

Iceland is BRILLIANT in this respect. Here is a nation of over 260,000 people with NO SURNAMES. That's right, everyone on the island is literally on a first name basis. The only identifying mark that even remotely resembles a last name is a mixture of the father's first name plus the Icelandic term for "son" or "daughter." Translated, that would make me Missy Kendaughter. Does that get passed on to my children? Of course not. Does it change when I marry? Heavens no.

Name troubles SOLVED! Way to go, Iceland! We should all be more like the understanding, simplistic nation up North. Except maybe not as freezing 10 months of the year.