旧姓 － maiden name

昨日の夫婦別姓に関する記事に続いて、今日も同じ話題を取り上げたいと思います。

結婚すれば同姓を名乗る、というのではなく、夫婦の意思に従って、同姓でも、別姓でも良いではないか、というのが趣旨なのですが、別姓ということになりますと、結婚する当事者である男性、女性それぞれが、生まれてからの姓をそのまま名乗る、ということです。

さて、”旧姓”は英語では何と言うでしょうか？

maiden name

です。

当然、違和感を持つ人がいるでしょう。"maiden"は、”少女、乙女”ですから、"maiden name"を名乗るのは、結婚した女性の場合ということになります。これでは、姓を変えるのは女性に限られると言わんばかりです。そこで登場したのが、"birth name"というニュートラルな表現のようです。

"maiden name"は、コンテクストによっては、差別的に受け取られかねないと思われますが、女性が主語（主題）である場合には、"maiden name"の使用も許容されるのでしょうか。

以下の２つの引用例を比較してみて下さい。


Kokumin Shinto, a rather reactionary, more right-wing party, has other beefs. While supporting the government on Futenma, they oppose two proposals of the Hatoyama Administration. One is granting voting rights to permanent residents and naturalized citizens of Japan.

（中略）

They also oppose a proposal to allow married couples to keep their own family names. In current Japanese law, married couples must choose one family name, legally speaking, which normally means the husband`s name. More and more working women use their maiden names at work while being forced to sign official documents with their "legal" one. Or many couples choose to "marry" but not register it officially. The DPJ`s proposal is widely supported among Japanese voters but Kokumin Shinto has called it a frontal attack on the institution of marriage and threatened to leave the coalition over passage of either plan. The Social Democrats, by the way, strongly support both proposals.

The Hatoyama Administration response to Kokumin Shinto has been to say that "negotiations are underway" and nothing has been "finalized". And probably never will be.
(Geoff Dean. Japan's Fractious Ruling Coalition. The Student Operated Press. March 3, 2010.)


Unveiled at a Friday policy meeting, the bill would enable married couples to choose whether to have the same family name or keep their birth name.
(The Japan Times. February 20, 2010.)