If you are wondering if you should keep your last name when you get married, here are some of the benefits and risks of changing your marriage name.
Pros in favor of changing your name after marriage:
You can remove an inexpensive, clunky, hard-to-spell moniker at the end
You could also consider accepting your husband’s last name if you want to distance yourself from your family or the bad reputation associated with your last name.
Change can be fun
If you take his surname after your marriage, you get a completely new name. You sign a new name, introduce yourself in another way. It’s fun!
Of course, change, like marriage, can be a daunting task. Taking her surname not only means the new identity you have taken, but it also represents the new identity you will have as a wife and, perhaps, as a mother. Of course, marriage does not make you inferior to another person or inferior to “you,” but there is nothing wrong with choosing to describe yourself as part of a unit.
Having one family name can bring family together
Speaking of units, a shared surname can help create a sense of who the family is, if you decide to have children.
At the risk of having cheese, you never want to shout, “We Joneses stick together!” during a family talk? At the very least, you will have an easy time deciding on the surnames of the children.
Sharing a surname makes monogramming easier
Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Towels aren’t that big of a deal over time, but if you’ve ever thought about having a doormat with your new family name on it, you might want to consider taking a married name.
People will just call you by your husband’s last name, automatically – so don’t just take that name
Whether we like it or not, people expect you to change your name after you get married. In fact, a 2017 study published in the journal Gender Issues showed that more than 70% of Americans say that brides should take their husbands’ names after marriage.
Since most of the people you meet will call you by the Bridegroom’s Last Name in practice, it may be a little easier to change your name than to correct them regularly.
Moving forward you will get to know why the disadvantages of not changing name after marriage are somehow causing issues to let’s delve into the cons now.
Cons to changing your name after you get married:
You could get caught up in a vicious circle that you do not like
Remember that Drew Barrymore’s character in The Wedding Singer was almost named Julia Gulia? Yes!
A good man will forgive you for taking his last name if it sounds awkward about your first name, or if it is just an unpopular last name, time.
Don’t lose your girlfriend’s name
In that note, your last name may sound poetic, exotic, or it may be written in your first name.
You will have to change your job identity
If you are a best-selling author, an expert in your field, or have a business named after you, it may be easier to do the job by engaging in your girl’s name, at least in the workplace.
Think of all the people who see your new name in their inbox and think you have spam or Google search terminated. Maybe it doesn’t suit you?
You can be the last descendant of a long family list
If it breaks your father’s heart to see the end of you, you may want to think about keeping your name.
Or, if your boyfriend has an open mind, trick him into taking your own. If so, you can use your maiden name as the middle name for your children.
Changing your name requires paperwork and sometimes a long line at a government office
People do it every day, and it’s not too hard (here’s our guide on how to change your name after marriage, at a higher price).
However, if you do not want to deal with the change of name associated with your Social Security, driver’s license, and credit cards – among other things – you can save a lot of time by simply sticking to your virginity name.
