I was talking to my mom recently about my sister-in-law, and her decision to take my family’s last name when she married my brother.That makes our initials the same, and it also makes it impossible for me to have something I covet – a gmail address with my first initial and my last name. My sister-in-law, young early adopter that she is, beat me to it.
You see, I didn’t change my name when I wed.
Instead, I continued to use my professional name, in the hopes that some day I would have an opportunity to revive my byline. My name means something in the outside world, considering it is plastered all over five years worth of newspapers.
{ 12 comments }
When I got married, I was 32. I knew I was going to change my name, but I felt much the same as you… It’s My Name. It’s ME.
Then I realized I am so much more than my name. I am what defines my name, my name does not define me.
My husband was all for me keeping my maiden name. He didn’t really see a “need” to change.
So, I did what all women in my family do — I kept my first name, use my maiden name as my middle name and my married name as my surname.
Works well for me! And 9 years later, I still find myself signing my “maiden name” from time to time!
I kept my name. My family is a loud and notorious bunch who is well-known where I grew up. I didn’t want to lose my connection to them. I feel like I’m still me, just married. It does get annoying when a kid come into the picture. You tell people you are married, then someone notices the different last name and you get these looks as if you lied. Ah well, I’m still happy with my decision.
If I had a cooler maiden name, I may have wanted to keep it, but it is long (almost as long as my married one) and nobody can spell it without a manual.
oh amen. we need to hold onto what matters to us no matter what others think.
it’s funny because i took a different tack – we didn’t get legally married but we both changed our names to one we chose together. to something i now feel i own fully, because i chose it myself.
I actually never considered the name thing from this point of view. I cannot wait to get rid of my father’s name and take on the name of a family who treats me like one of their own.
Bossy gladly surrendered her maiden name when she married, because her maiden name had lots and lots of those pesky things. Letters.
you know how laid back my husband is. Well, when I said I was going to keep my name, his briefs got bent out of shape. Now I use all three names but it’s not hypenated (like mimi above). I felt really strongly about it at the time, but now I really don’t care. I know who I am regardless!
When I got married, I knew I didn’t want to take my husband’s last name, but I also wanted us to both have the same last name as our children. So, we opted to make up a new name (we used the first three letters of his last name and the last three of mine). Then we paid to have it legally changed. I was (and still am) very happy with our decision.
My husband took my name. WOOT!
And it was completely his idea, and I am not even trying to be funny. He brought it up when we were engaged, and I just ran with it. We are very happy with our decision.
It’s vonderful.
Thanks.
Ok! Best regards!
The Best.
And includes a wealth of information.
Checking in to see if everybody.
I visited your web site.
The Best.
It’s fine.
Comments on this entry are closed.