Whats in a mothers name? Surname?

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Once upon a time, men rarely had names like Joy Mary or Madhavan Parvathy, for they sounded feminine. But times are changing and now sons are proudly upholding their mothers’ names as surnames.Technopark-based employee Nishanth S N had to expand his initials when the foreign clients of his company expressed confusion over his surname.Following this, Nishanth added Nazeem, his mother’s name, as his surname.Now he is comfortable carrying his mother’s name since he likes sharing the credit of his success with his mother.For an average Malayali, surname is father’s name or house name.On the eve of Mother’s Day on May 13 (celebrated on the second Sunday of May), Express talked to some men who are carrying their mother’s tag with them.In addition to getting a unique name, adding mother’s name is an expression of love for the mother for most of them.“My father died when I was studying in standard II. I have seen the struggles undergone by my mom in bringing me up and my brother. So carrying her name is an expression of my love and respect for her. I want to see her smile when she reads my name while I achieve something good,” said Nishanth.Anoop P Ambika, CEO and Managing Director of Kreara Solutions, too had to expand his initials as part a foreign assignment.“You have to expand your initials in the passport. I decided to continue with the surname, which is my mother’s name. Obviously, she is excited and happy of hearing this name,” said Anoop.Renowned multimedia artist and photographer Vivek Vilasini and CEO of Fischer Systems India Pvt. Ltd Anil Saraswathy are some of the persons who added their mothers’ names as their surnames.Interestingly, globalisation must be thanked for Malayalis’ recognition for their mother as most people have to expand their initials for onsite work assignments.