What’s in a name?

Last night I was asked by a friend whether I would be taking my fiancé’s surname. Of course I am! I am traditional and I believe that if you get married, you take your husband’s name.

I know times are changing and you see more and more married women with hyphenated surnames and some still with their maiden name because they chose not to let go of it.

I kind of think that’s weird and I don’t mean any disrespect, but I would much rather change my name or hyphenate it than keep my maiden name. I guess it’s got something to do with acknowledging my fiancé and saying ‘yes, I want to officially be part of your family’.

My girlfriend who was recently married told me her dad had mentioned to her after she became engaged that now she was getting married she had to take her new husband’s name (and her dad wasn’t budging on the subject).

Another girlfriend who is getting married has chosen to hyphenate her surname because she feels that it’s an independence thing – she wants to say that she is still who she is as a person, even though she is married. I am not sure why she needs to prove that point to everyone else; after all there are usually only two people in a marriage. I don’t think you ‘lose’ who you are just because you change your name.

I for one think my fiancé would be hurt if I told him I had no interest in taking his name.

Anyway, I did some research and found some cracker hyphenated names…