A touchy subject these days among young people is whether a woman should change her last name after marriage. Changing your name is a very personal decision. Some women are very comfortable with it; others are not. Issues of career and separate identity play more largely with women these days than in the past.
The wifey and I (Justin) were talking about this issue the other day. (She changed her last name to mine after our wedding.) We both agreed that, barring some extraordinary circumstance, a woman not changing her name probably indicates that she is not fully committed to the relationship, though changing her name doesn’t necessarily indicate that she is committed. (You are free to disagree.) It probably indicates that she does not wish to identify with her husband. In my view, after a marriage, there is one family, not two. The husband, wife and children should have the same last name–whatever name that is. Further, life is made considerably easier and less confusing to others when making financial, legal and social arrangements. Here are the alternatives:
Option 1: Taking your husband’s name.
Option 2: Keeping your own name.
Option 3: Hyphenating
Option 4: Combining both spouses last names.
Option 5: Changing the man’s name.
Interestingly enough, according to this site, many Muslim women keep their “maiden” name.
TheStateOf . . . the Name Change. Options 3 and 4 are the middle ground. I know one punk whose wife wouldn’t even let their kids take his last name!
Filed under: Uncategorized
