Bits of progress

[redbird]

I called my GP's office and got the podiatrist's surname and phone number, but haven't called yet. (I should probably either call the doctor's office, or check the HIP provider directory, rather than assume the podiatrist's gender from zir surname.)

The reason I didn't call yet is that I was tidying up some bits, and writing things up, for a small research project. That's now sent off, and I figure I'll get back one (at least) of "thanks, that's good"; "thanks, can you get me more about this piece of it"; "not quite what I wanted/can use, the other thing you mentioned looks possible"; or (unlikely, I think) "no, that's not it at all."

Comments

[wilfulcait.livejournal.com]

I'm confused. I understand how you could guess at gender from forename, but from surname?

[redbird]

I was told they've referred me to "Doctor Bar-David." Literally, that means "David's daughter." I suspect that this is no more accurate than it would be to assume that someone not from Iceland who had "-sen" in their name was male.

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

I'm probably wrong, because it's been *years* since I studied Hebrew, but I thought "bar" was "son", and "daughter" was "bat" or "bas"?

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I think your language slipped. Ben-David is Hebrew for David's son. Bar-David is Aramaic for David's son. But, as you say, such things are not an accurate predictor. (Look at Donald Duck! You'd expect him to be Donald Drake, but he uses his mother's name, at least for the stage.)

My primary care doctor had a hyphenated name that did not seem gendered to me, though perhaps it seemed so to him. (Or perhaps very very faintly feminine, as half of it is the opposite of "Tiptree." Considering that it's sometimes a man's given name, we're talking absurd faintness, here.) Nevertheless, he's changing his whole name when he becomes a woman. Maybe it's more about a new start than about a gender-specific indicator.

[ckd]

Well, her last name will be a contraction of his hyphenated one (which led to my one actual question, which I haven't asked yet, which is "how is she going to pronounce it?").

(I am often amused by the number of folks on my flist who go to the same medical practice I do.)

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

>Well, her last name will be a contraction of his hyphenated one

Thank you for pointing that out! I can't believe I missed it. I thought it was an entirely new last name, and it baffled me.

>(I am often amused by the number of folks on my flist who go to the same medical practice I do.)

It explains the long wait for an appointment.