In "Désirée's Baby," what does the phrase "she was nameless" mean?

The story of “Desiree’s Baby” takes place in the southern United States during the early 1800’s, in a time and setting in which one's family name was everything for the Southern aristocracy.  The patriarch of the family had dominance not only over slaves, but over the women and children, as well.  It was his role to control them in order to maintain his family honor, and to maintain the prestige of his name at all costs.

Therefore, Armand Aubigny’s decision to marry Desiree, a white woman who is beautiful and cultured but whose name is unknown, is out of the cultural norm.  Having been abandoned as an infant, she was raised by Madame and Monsieur Valmonde.  In spite of having been raised a lady, Desiree's doubtful origins would be considered a blight on her worthiness in the eyes of the Southern aristocracy.  We are told that when Armand falls instantly in love and determines to marry Desiree, “he was reminded that she was nameless.” The fact that Chopin doesn’t tell us who reminds him gives us the sense that it is likely more than one person, representing the societal norm that Southern aristocracy must marry into an honorable family name.

Yet Armand, it appears, is somewhat impulsive and overly confident that his own impeccable family name will be enough to cover for her.  It is ironic that he judges her acceptable based on the color of her skin.  Likewise, when their child is born slightly dark-skinned, he again judges her. He completely disowns Desiree and her baby, telling her, “it means that you are not white.” Based on his cultural prejudices and fear for his family name, he falls out of love with her as instantly as he fell in love.  

The final, ironic twist in the end is the letter Armand finds in which his mother reveals that she “‘belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.’” He might not be “nameless” as Desiree is, but his contemporaries would deem him lower than she if they knew his true heritage.

The story gives clues enough to this truth, again involving skin color.  Chopin tells us that Desiree sometimes fears but always loves “Armand's dark, handsome face,” and at his accusation that she is not white, she cries, “Look at my hand; whiter than yours.” Yet because he is the son of a wealthy aristocrat, it seems that no one has ever questioned his ethnicity. Chopin leaves the reader to wonder at Armand's reaction to the news of his heritage. Based on the knowledge that Desiree and the baby never return to L'Abri, coupled with Armand´s prejudiced cultural mindset and the fact that he has been obliterating all the artifacts of his marriage in a fire, we can assume that he will burn the evidence which would taint his name, yet live in self-hatred for the rest of his days.

As "Desire's Baby" begins, the reader is introduced to Desire.  As a baby, she is found on the side of the road by the Valmounde family.  A wealthy family with no children of their own they take her in and adopt her.  Years later when she has grown into a beauty, she catches the eye of a neighboring plantation owner, Armand Aubigny. As a part of a wealthy family, Armand has a wealthy name- one that has been passed down from generation to generation.  When they first get married, Armand's father warns him that Desire has no such name.  Since she was adopted, no one knows who her family is, or where they come from.  At the time he is in love and doesn't worry about it.  He dismisses his father's warning saying that he will give Desire his name.

A sweet thought that comes back to haunt him once their baby is born.  When they realize that the baby has color to him they realize there must be some Black ancestry in their family.  Since she doesn't "have a name" Armand believes it must be her fought and her family.  The true irony exists when we realize that it is actually Black ancestry.

In the story, Monsieur Armand Aubigny fell in love with Desiree when he spotted her standing against the stone gateway of the Valmonde estate.

Accordingly, Desiree was adopted by the Valmondes as their daughter after she wandered onto their property eighteen years before. At the time, no one had known where the toddler had come from. There was speculation as to her origins, but in the end, Madame Valmonde had concluded that Desiree had come to her as a gift from God, 'seeing that she was without child of the flesh.'

When Monsieur Armand Aubigny asked for Desiree's hand in marriage, Monsieur Valmonde had been wary. He raised the issue of the 'girl's obscure origin' to Monsieur Aubigny. But, the author tells us that Monsieur Aubigny did not care:

He was reminded that she was nameless. What did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana? He ordered the corbeille from Paris, and contained himself with what patience he could until it arrived; then they were married.

The phrase 'he was reminded that she was nameless' alludes to Desiree's 'obscure origin.' No one knew anything about her status or her family history; therefore, she had no family name, in the sense that no one could ascertain whether she came from an impoverished, middle-class, or wealthy background. Because Desiree had no established background, Monsieur Aubigny considered her 'nameless.'

However, he was not perturbed by this lack on Desiree's part; he reasoned that he would be able to give her 'one of the oldest and proudest' names in Louisiana when he married her. In giving Desiree his family name, Monsieur Aubigny felt convinced that Desiree's status in society would be raised.

What does "he was reminded that she was nameless" mean in the context of "Désirée's Baby"?

Close to the beginning of Kate Chopin's story "Desiree's Baby," there is a flashback that explains Desiree's background and how Armand fell in love with her. Desiree was a foundling; the Valmondes had adopted her after finding her along the roadside, "purposely left by a party of Texans." Desiree grew up as a neighbor to Armand, but he never took much notice of her until he saw her at the age of 18 standing against a pillar at her home. At that point he fell madly in love with her and decided he wanted to marry her. Although not specifically stated, it appears that Desiree's father, Monsieur Valmonde, was the one who reminded Armand that "she was nameless." Presumably when Armand approached Desiree's father to ask for her hand in marriage, Desiree's father gave him a warning. He made sure Armand knew that Desiree had been adopted and therefore no one knew about her ancestry.

Why should this matter? In the South at the time, laws and societal practices took one's race into account. If a person had black heritage, he or she would be subjected to discriminatory laws, and the white culture in which both the Valmondes and the Aubignys circulated would look down upon and reject anyone who was of mixed blood. Valmonde may have realized that Armand was particularly wrapped up in that culture. He had one of the wealthiest plantations in the area, and he was ruthless toward his slaves. Valmonde wanted to warn him that, should he and Desiree have children, any possible African heritage might show up in their offspring. Armand ignores this warning because of his passion for Desiree.

Later, of course, Desiree's baby does turn out to have African features, and Armand rejects Desiree and the baby because of that. The sentence "He was reminded that she was nameless" foreshadows what occurs later in the story when Armand tells Desiree, "It means that the child is not white....It means that you are not white."