1) Me: Dropped by last name and changed to Jamin's.
2) Janine (Peter's wife): hyphenated the two last names.
3) Mary: Kept her maiden name.
I must admit, I'm very pro "change your last name" (obviously, because that's what I did). However, I do think it's a personal decision and there isn't one right way. I wonder where changing the last name came from anyway? What do you think of this last name issue?
17 comments:
I feel the same as you, while I think it's up to the person, I myself was very excited to take on my husband's last name and it was never a question to me of what I would do. Especially now that we have a baby I like that we all have the same last name, instead of our kids and me having different last names.
I was very glad to get rid of all 12 letters of my maiden name,(SCHELLENBERG) although i wished i had a name I could hyphenate, it looks so modern..
Well I changed mine to but to be honest if I did more for our future children at the time since I wanted all of us to have the same name. If we weren't planning on having kids I don't think I would have bothered since it was a bit of a pain. All my friends from high school took their husband's last name and all my university friends kept their maiden name...I always found that interesting that there was such a divide like that.
(Should also note all my friends from highschool did go to university, just not the same one I did).
after changing my last name, I wished I had just added on my husband's last name instead of ridding myself of my maiden name. my maiden name was unique and my husband's isn't (it's the equivalent of smith)... so I felt like I lost a piece of my unique identity.
I would have still gone by my husband's last name but just to see my maiden name on some official documents would have been sufficient.
in fact, the last piece of id with my maiden name I kept for myself was my university id but it was stolen this summer in east asia. boo.
What about making up a new last name? I think that would be interesting. I think its good to be as united as possible. Maybe even change first names to the same name. :)
I did change my last name, but now wishing I had just used both. Here's something interesting from Wikipedia on the subject..."In many jurisdictions whose legal systems derive from the civil law—such as France, Spain, Belgium, the Canadian province of Quebec, and the U.S. state of Louisiana— the default position is for a woman's "legal name" to remain the same throughout life: Citizens who wish to change their names must apply to do so."
I am pretty pro-change, too. Again, that's what I did, so I guess I'm a little biased. I have gone from clarifying that MacKinnon is spelled with an "a" to spelling Mattheis and getting called many things...mostly Ma-theese or Ma-thy-us. Ah well. I didn't know how to say his last name when I met him, either!!
You crack me up Sarah!
I am obviously into changing my last name...but I'm pretty neutral about the topic. However, I do find it odd when people don't take their husbands last name. I do think its easier on the kids when you all share the same last name. You appear to be more united that way.
Taking on the husband's name came from long ago when wives were considered their men's "property".
I chose to hypenate for personal and professional reasons. One being that Shane's mom and I would both be Sandy DeBoice. I just thought that was weird.
I didn't think I'd have a hard time with giving it up, but I did.
HOWEVER, our children will be DeBoice. I'm proud to be a DeBoice, but I was attached to my last name. I thought MacAulay-DeBoice would be hard to get used to...nope.
I've adjusted nicely. I ain't Shane's property, and he ain't mine. lol
Very interseting thought Sarah which I have to agree with. I wanted to change my name when I was getting married but I did think quite about it because I have a number of friends who did keep, change, or hyphenate their name. I came to the conclusion that my maiden name was a part of my family that i was raised in that was given to me at birth. When I married, it was my choice for a new beginning, with my new family. My closest friends identify me by my first name. That is a part of my identity, the last name is more of a clarification of person:)
I looked up the origin of name change and this is a few sites that you can chack out. It is interesting that men and women bothed changed there name at one point depending on the families wealth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_name
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_name
In Korea woman don't take the name of their husband and when I wanted to take hoon's name it took me a while to explain why I would want to. Also people here refuse to except my name as kim because it's just not done. I think it's nice to take you're husbands name so you have the same name as the rest of your family :)
hehe... I took Kent's last name "Ellefsen" and man oh man, it's tough for people to pronounce! I really liked my maiden name, and although I'll always be a "Shea" at heart, taking Kent's last name was just symbolic to me. My mother did it, so I did it...but I agree, it's a personal choice.
I have to add my 2 cents to this discussion! I have to say that I didn't ever really consider taking my husband's last name - it was not an issue for either of us. The history of women taking their husbands name bothered me (and my husband), plus, I felt like my name was an important part of my identity. I really feel like it is one of those things that is as important as you make it - if you feel like it will make you more of family to have the same last name, then you should definitely have the same last name - that's legitimate. However, it is just as legitimate and meaningful, to retain your own last name - I'm still taken aback that people are so suprised that I have kept my last name. Its just not that big of a deal. Does it mean our committment to each other is weaker then others, I think not! It's all perspective and personal preference. And as for our children - we'll have to give them short first and middle names, because they'll have a lot of letters to learn in both of their last names! (16 letters, to be exact!)
If I didn't know better I would have thought you were siamese twins joined at the head. I love the two pictures of you and Jamin with the classic Barrett head tilt pose. Made me laugh...Too funny!
I'm definitely looking forward to being a 'Best,' even though I made fun of Matt's last name when I first met him...haha. I guess I think I will just feel like I really am married once my name changes!!! Only 12 more days...crazy!!!
just wanted to brag... Jessica has taken some steps!
Kathy, that's awesome...so exciting, huh?
Naomi has been walking quite a bit lately too...I just can't believe how big these girls are getting!
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