Changing Name?

Personally, when I get married I am taking my husband's name and I will change it professionally, as well.
But everyone's different.

I changed my name. Its showing your man that his name has value to you and you want to be a part of that

Well I know I am thinking of keeping mine and adding his my first name is Rebecca-Lee and I love the hyphen so if her last name is say jones and his is smith Jones-Smith or if she wants to really have hers still show Smith-Jones that way it is still in her last name so people can find her

Depends on her definition of "professional". If she is licensed or a doctor or has some other notoriety associated with her maiden name, she should keep it until she changes business offices or until it is more feasible. Going to a doctor for years and then having them change their name suddenly leads to a lot of confusion for clients. If, on the other hand, she simply works in an office or similar, it doesn't really matter that much as any references can be found by searching her maiden name.

Still not sure. I mean, my last name is a man's name, anyway, it came from my father, so my inner feminist kind of sees no point either way.

I may hyphenate, I may keep my father's name, I may take my husband's. Honestly, whatever sounds the coolest. *shrugsies* I definitely don't think it's my OBLIGATION to take my husband's name, that's some messed up internalized patriarchal bullshizzy.

When I got married, I changed my name all over the place because I was happy as could be and wanted EVERYONE to know about it. When I got divorced, I really wanted to go back to my maiden name, but we have kids. My decision has been that I will keep my kids' name until they're grown up. So, assuming I ever decide to walk the plank... I mean aisle... again, I'd probably hyphenate.

Everyone's different if she has a high profile job where everyone knows her name, changing it could cause a few ripples.

You never know. To each their own. I hope she and her hubby-to-be can work it out so they're both content with the decision.

I definitely want to change my name personally and professionally when I get married. I've always told my dad, "I love you, but I'm changing my last name someday." Of course, with a last name that sounds like (spelled differently) than a brand of toilet paper (and I teach high school, so you can imagine the jokes), who wouldn't want to change their name? My boyfriend's last name isn't much better though, so I might be SOL, haha.

I say to each their own though. I know a lot of women who keep their last names or use both.

I just got married nearly two weeks ago, and i did change my last name. We already have a little girl and i gave her his lastname. I see it as us becoming our own little family, see it as respectful and apart of getting married. Saying that i dont have any ties to my dad so i dont see my last name as a big deal xx

When I got married, I knew I would be changing my last name as I hated mine (FIX) growing up. Too many ways to pick on that name.

However, my husband and I also discussed both of us changing our names. We tried combining his name and mine to make our own unique name that came from both of us. However, since this couldn't be done right away, we decided I would just take his name.

I think she has a perfectly good idea and that is how I would handle it if I were in the same boat. I worked with a lawyer who did something very similiar.

What's with the sentiments of: "If she really loved him she would take his name!" Wth.

So because a man traditionally doesn't take his wife's name, it means he doesn't really love her? I don't even

i'm traditional so unless your name is part of your brand or practice i want you to have mine, my mother took my fathers, my grandmother took my grandfathers and my great grandmother took my great grandfathers

Call me old fashioned but I took my husbands last name. It forms a unity and I think that is why we got married in the first place, to be united. Best Wishes to your friend.

My boss and his wife both work at my place of employ, but don't share last names. I didn't realize that they were married until I figured out that they were telling stories and anecdotes about the same child, haha! When I mentioned it, they told me that because she had been in her career for much longer than they had been married, and that she had scores of professional credits and contacts, it wasn't in her best interest to change it and lose that ground.

I have to say that when you go into a career where your individuality is important against all the people in your field, losing years of that hard work is something I would not expect many to be keen on doing. I don't find it to be offensive in the least, and I know that it can lead to problems down the road.

As a secondary input, my mother changed her name when she married my father and when they broke up (after I was born) a year and a half later, she kept the name so that we would share it. This lead to awkward problems when she had my half-brother and the father was uninterested in being a part of his life, including giving him his last name. My father (and his Italian mother) thought it was highly offensive that this new kid now shared my father's name, when in fact he was entirely unrelated. At that point, my mother didn't want half the family to have different names, though it didn't bother me, and after she and my brother talked it over (when he was old enough), they decided it wasn't worth it to change. My father's family is still very bitter about it though. My mother has started going by her maiden name again in some aspects though she never got it legally reverted. My brother and I still share a last name.