(B)last names!!!

I finally found out why people in Poland, after reading my name (e.g. in my CV) tend to think I'm female. It is because my last name finishes in "a". At the beginning I thought that they usually present themselves with the last name in front of the first one, so they thought that my first name finishes in "a" and that's why I may be female, but it's another story. I'm living here for four months and I didn't notice that they change the ending of the last name accordingly with the gender. Well, it sounds so strange to me, but I guess it's just a reminiscence of the Slavic tradition. Still, it's less dramatic than in countries like Russia, Ukraine or even Bulgaria where new born babies or wifes get their last name after the first name of their father/husband, so practically it's quite complicated if not impossible to track genealogies by the last name. After talking to my friends from different nations about these things, I found out even more interesting stuff. Almost the same thing as in Poland happens in the Czech Republic. Or they're even more strict about it, as in Poland it may occur in some cases that the last name doesn't change due to some grammar peculiarities (some men have last names finished in "a" ) while if a male's Czech name finishes in "a", his daughter's (or wife) name will add a specific suffix like "ova" to that name, to make it much clearer. All these things are fascinating for me, as I would have never imagined that in present times last names change in some cultures. I could not imagine getting married in Russia for example and my wife getting her last name after my first name, or in the Czech Republic with more letters added to my last name that's already finishing in "a". I guess my name was enough confusing for people here in Poland. Maybe I should add a picture in my CV after all, like suggested to me. :-)