There's a lot in a hyphen

What's in a name?  A lot.  Just watched an interview with "Martha Hall Findlay".  What, actually, is her name?  Why do we need the "Hall" part?  Is "Hall" her maiden name?  Is "Findlay" her married/divorced name?  I am so confused.  What's with the "Hall"?  What's with the "Findlay"?  If her name were hyphenated, we'd get it.  But it's not, so we don't. 

And then there is "John Ralston Saul".  What is his name?  Is "Ralston" his middle name?  Who cares?  My middle name is "Patricia".  Should I go around calling myself "Nancy Patricia Griffith Marley-Clarke"?  Isn't he just "John Saul"?  What's with the "Ralston"?

See, that's what I mean about the hyphen.  You need the hyphen to allow people to figure out who you are.  Unfortunately, women's lib has ruined hyphenated names.  People have thought for years that my maiden name was "Marley".  No, it was "Griffith".  It galls me that people actually think I kept my maiden name.  I did not.  I am not a "hyphenated-liberated" woman.  I am in bondage as is every other married, working woman with children.

I worked with a woman named "Monica Jones-Kisil".  I presumed her hyphenated name went way back, but no.  "I decided to keep my maiden name," she declared.  You decided to keep your maiden name?!  It's "Jones", not "Windsor" or "Mountbatten" -- "Jones".  Unless your father was Tom, what's the point?   

B's hyphenated name came about 200 years ago in India.  A great-grandmother married a "Marley" and had a bunch of kids.  He died and she married a "Clarke" and had a bunch more.  For $$$ reasons, they put the two names together so all the kids could have the same name and get the same $$$$.  It's always about $$$$$$$$$$.

A number of B's cousins have changed their names to their mother's maiden name of "Marley-Clarke"?  Don't get me started.  What does their father think of that?  Not much, I would wager.   

I wish people would declare themselves.