Thursday, March 19, 2015

Maiden Name, Married Name or Both?

Ten years ago, I frowned upon women who chose to keep their maiden name after getting married. My belief was, if a woman decided to get married, taking her husband’s name wasn’t an option. Marriage is about becoming one with your spouse and having one name – his name.

Well, I’m not so sure about those views anymore. I don’t think I’ve met anyone that loves their maiden name more than I do. It’s not a common name and a great conversation starter. Many can’t pronounce it correctly or even spell it right. That’s ok though. I have no problem with that. 

That’s why I have zero plans of dropping it a second time. When I get married again, Findlayter will either become an additional middle name or I’ll hyphenate it. Getting rid of it is NOT an option.

My number one reason for wanting to keep my maiden name (other than loving it so much) is for business purposes. My clients have finally gotten used to calling me by my maiden name. Secondly, I have no intention of spending anymore money to change my business licenses again.

Whether a woman decides to keep her maiden name or dump it for her husband’s name is a personal choice.



Many women choose to keep their maiden name because that’s just a part of who they are. Their last name is their identity. It’s the name they’ve been called all their lives.

Another common reason why some choose to keep their name is because there are no male children in their family. Keeping their maiden name means keeping the family name alive.

If a woman decides not to take her husband’s name, it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t love him or isn’t committed to him. It’s not a suggestion that their marriage won’t last. It’s not even about her wanting to keep her “single status/identity”. It just might mean that she couldn’t care less about giving in to a tradition.

That’s what this name change thing really is. A tradition. Many of us were brought up to believe that woman have to change their last names after they got married. No one has ever asked a man to take on his wife’s last name. Maybe they should. Or not.

In about twenty years, I’m pretty sure this debate about maiden name vs married name won’t be such a big deal. That’s because it isn’t.

What are your views on women keeping their maiden names after marriage?

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Thanks for reading and keep smiling :) 

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