Weddings and Romance

Should a Woman Change her Name when She Gets Married?

For a woman, changing her name on marriage is not something that is required by U.S. law. While it is still the predominant choice for women in the U.S., it is a personal decision that she should consider before the wedding.

Legal name changing is a minor hassle, as you need to change your name on bank accounts, your driver's license, passport, and social security cards among other important documents. Don't fret, there is a great product which makes the tedious forms and filings relatively painless.

Women with professional practices such as lawyers or doctors, often choose to keep their maiden names. So do women in entertainment. And, a woman may have an assertive or familial reason to keep her maiden name.

How you change your name is also a personal decision which sometimes follows family or cultural traditions. Should you simply take your husband's last name (a.k.a. surname)? Should you hyphenate your last name and his? For example, say before marriage, you are Mary Long; your husband's name is Peter Baker. You can be Mary Baker or Mary Long Baker or Mary Long-Baker. Sometimes the husband will also take the new hyphenated name - In this case he'd be Peter Long-Baker. And more rarely still, both the husband and will take a totally new last that may be a combination like "Balong" or "Laker"

Once you decide how you would like to be referred to, you'll just have to follow through changing important documents and just learning to use it every day. Of course you won't forget your maiden name but this new name will be your name for the remainder of your married life and you will get accustomed to it!