TL;DR: Help me convince my husband to take my family’s last name – Pickel!

Hi! I’m Laura. But, more importantly, my last name is Pickel. It’s a great last name! Everyone agrees!  …except my husband. But, he told me that he’s willing to take my last name (and will agree to pass along that last name to our children - our first due at the end of June!), if I can get 1 million signatures on an online petition.

That’s where you come in - help me seal the dill.

Now, I don’t expect you to just take my word for it that Pickel is the greatest last name (though if you don’t already agree… really?!) I’ll share with you some evidence about why it really just makes sense for our family to be the Pickels, about why it’s honestly kind of surprising we aren’t already the Pickels.

To begin with, the Pickel family is large and connected by our commitment to pickles (as evidenced by this picture from our summer 2022 Pickelfest).

 

 

And we don’t just rep our pickle gear at large family gatherings, we take any opportunity to share our love of pickles. Like these hats, sported by my sister, my dad, and myself in front of Pickles Pub in Baltimore. 

 

 

And while not officially a Pickel (yet), Jarrett already can’t resist the urge to wear a hat covered in pickles.

 

 

Now, you might be wondering, “Laura, do your dogs like pickles?” Well yes. Yes, they do. 

 

 

Finally, and perhaps most momentously, the very first onesie that we bought for our first born child, the very first piece of clothing we bought to acknowledge that we’re going to bring a new life into this world? You guessed it. It’s from the Pickle bookstore.

 

 

If the arguments above don’t cut it for you, I understand (well, I don’t, but you’re just a random person on the internet, so I’ll forgive you). But, I’d also ask you to consider our other options.

• Option 1: Our future kids and I take my husband’s last name. It’s the option that most people take and maybe it’s the easiest option. In fact, ChatGPT (who says its source is the New York Times ::shrug::) says that only 3% of men take their wife’s last name. How is that fair?! Especially when (as evidenced above) I have a great last name. Why should the default be to pass on his last name?
• Option 2: We could try to find a Portmanteau of our current last names. But, trust me when I say, we don’t have great options. Even my husband agrees. We’ve genuinely tried to find something that represents us both equally. But, I just don’t think it’s happening.
• Option 3: We choose a random last name. This is definitely an interesting idea and I have a couple of friends who have done this. But, this decision is hard enough already. How do we choose when the options are endless?!

Convinced now? Great. Time to help us get out of this pickle. Sign and share!