Changing last name after marriage...
By Lena Kovadlo
@lovebuglena (47970)
Staten Island, New York
December 1, 2016 4:08pm CST
When I got married I wanted to keep my maiden name but my husband wanted me to have his. He told me I could either hyphenate my last name or take his. At first I thought of hyphenating it because then my maiden name would still be in my last name. But doing that would make my last name very long, so decided to just take his last name.
What do you think a woman should do when she gets married?:
(1) Keep her maiden name
(2) Take her husband's last name
(3) Hyphenate her last name
5 people like this
9 responses
@msiduri (5687)
• United States
1 Dec 16
I think it's unique to each individual and to each couple. I can understand if a woman has a professional or academic history with her maiden name, she'd want to keep it.
I kept my last name. I couldn't talk my husband into changing his last name to mine 
. My last name is uncommon. In fact, I've never met anyone outside my family with it. I wasn't going to let go of it. Plus, we would not be having children so there was not the complication to worry about.
There's nothing wrong with my husband's last name. I just wanted to keep mine.
And, of course, it's nice that we have a choice now. Our mothers and grandmothers didn't have this choice.
. My last name is uncommon. In fact, I've never met anyone outside my family with it. I wasn't going to let go of it. Plus, we would not be having children so there was not the complication to worry about.
There's nothing wrong with my husband's last name. I just wanted to keep mine.
And, of course, it's nice that we have a choice now. Our mothers and grandmothers didn't have this choice.2 people like this
@lovebuglena (47970)
• Staten Island, New York
7 Oct
Originally I was going to hyphenate but then I realized last name would be too long and I did not want to deal with that so I took his last name. Udler is so much simpler to write than Kovadlo-Udler. But now with my current situation, if he doesn’t return to me ever and makes it official, I’ll be stuck with his last name.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (47970)
• Staten Island, New York
8 Oct
@porwest My first cousin’s mom took her dad’s last name when they got married. When they ended up divorcing, she never changed back to her maiden name. I don’t know if it was because it’s a hassle to change everything or if she simply wanted to have the same last name as her daughter. Her daughter recently married and took on her husband’s last name.
1 person likes this
@porwest (109376)
• United States
8 Oct
@lovebuglena Many women consider holding the husband's last name as a "rite of passage." He can leave the woman, but she gets to keep the name. I have heard this more than once from women. "It's my last dig."
1 person likes this
@marguicha (228802)
• Chile
1 Dec 16
In my country, women remain with their maiden names all their lives although you can change your last name for anyone you want if you follow certain steps (not necessarily your husband´s last name.
I always found curious that the women in the US changed their last names when they got married. I feel (excuse me) it is a sort of old kind of bondage.
1 person likes this
@infatuatedbby (94909)
• United States
1 Dec 16
I wouldn't want to hyphenate the last name as it will cause complications when perhaps filling out paperwork or forms. I would drop my middle name and use my husbands last name and put my current last name as my middle name. :)
@lovebuglena (47970)
• Staten Island, New York
8 Dec 16
I think if the last name would be too long then it may not be a good idea to hyphenate. But if the maiden name is short and so is the husband's name then it can work.
2 people like this
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
2 Dec 16
I have a double first name so I don't need a double last name...two marriages and I took his name each time.
@lovebuglena (47970)
• Staten Island, New York
8 Dec 16
What's a double first name?
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
9 Dec 16
@infatuatedbby I kept first husband name....just for spite!
1 person likes this
@happyhaha (285)
• Fuzhou, China
1 Dec 16
I don't know how to answer this question, because in our China, we don't have this problem when I got married. Actually I even don't know why do you have to change the name? What is mean?
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
2 Dec 16
We take the man's name since it is two people joining together.
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
9 Dec 16
@lovebuglena husband allows???? wow that should be the woman's decision.
@lovebuglena (47970)
• Staten Island, New York
8 Dec 16
@AbbyGreenhill a lot of my aunts who got married back in the Soviet Union kept their maiden names... Guess it depends on a woman's preference or on whether the husband allows the wife to keep her maiden name.
@Traceyjayne (5821)
• United Kingdom
8 Oct
I think if you get married then you are Mrs …..
So you should take your husbands name.
@lovebuglena (47970)
• Staten Island, New York
8 Oct
Why not the other way around? Why doesn’t the man take the woman’s last name?
