What is in a name?

So my mum is changing back to her maiden name - Hudson. Recently she asked me if I wouldn't mind if she did so. I think that it is a great thing for her to do seeing as how she and my father have not been together in about ten years now - why should she hang on to his name? It's possibly the first overtly feminist thing my mum has ever done, although I know she's always been a feminist, just a quiet one. You know the sort. She just does things her way instead of talking about it all the time. It was only later, on reflection, that I realised it would mean that my mother would not have the same last name as myself or my siblings. As someone who doesn't plan to change my name (even if hell freezes over and I do end up getting married) I think retaining the name you were born with is a good way to go. Of course this is generally your father's name anyway and pays no respect to your mother's side of the family which isn't particularly fair. When mum told me about changing her name, I briefly thought about taking my mother's maiden name, as why should I keep my father's name when he is only half of who created me but then I wouldn't be appreciating his side of the family. The only way to get around this dilly of a pickle is to hyphenate but where does it end? If I was a hyphenation of my parents' last names my last name would be Hudson-Auden, then if I were to have children I would use both my name and my partner's name which would make the poor little tacker's last name Hudson-Auden-Cowper-Yates. Phew. What a mouthful. Clearly that idea isn't going to work for very long. So in conclusion, naming sucks and is never a true representation of who you are and where you came from, but does it really matter anyway?