Amal Alamuddin has changed her name professionally

' Successful women who change their names professionally always strike me as either stupid or coerced'

Wow that's charming OP!

I changed my name and I can assure you I am neither stupid nor coerced. I think we need to remember that in the majority of cases at present keeping you own name means keeping your father's name. That may change but was certainly the case for me. I had the choice, because dh certainly wasn't bothered, between my father's name which I had never liked or a married name which is pretty classy . I simply LIKE it better. I married very young so I will shortly have spent more time with this name than my original name. I have grown up with this name. In terms of work and life as a parent this name is who I am. Were I marrying again I suspect I would still keep this name because it's actually MINE not dh's.

Taking a married name in 2014 is not about labelling yourself as a possession. It's about considering who you are as a couple and as a family. Amal has made her decision and I think we should respect her sense of self enough to know it will not be limited by what she calls herself. It's really offensive to assume otherwise.

To me it's nothing to do with feminism it's more why should my father-in-law's name trump my father's name in a family 'identity'.

Indeed Camolips - don't men ever fall out with their families or hate their last names or just fancy a change?

Poddling, that is fine if that is your choice. I see the surname as ours, our identity.

Why do so few men want the symbolic gesture?

Ehric did you change your name when you got married?

Maybe she actually wants to be known as Mrs Clooney? Doesn't make her any less intelligent.

I can't believe people are saying they are disappointed by her FGS! Its people like you OP that give feminism a bad name! Feminism is about equality and the right to choose, not about doing what other women think you should do!

x-posts Petula :)

i have lots of women colleagues who do that. it can be a little complicated where their passports have a different name (married name usually) to their professional name in terms of business travel, but there are options for that built into our travel and expenses system

when a woman marries her name doesn't automatically change. if she chooses to, she can send off her marriage certificate to whichever bodies she would like to use her married name. the rest will keep her unmarried name if she doesn't want to change it everywhere

my mum uses her married name outside work and her unmarried name professionally - all her professional qualifications are in her unmarried name. she has bank accounts in both names

Oh absolutely petula, I am just saying some women chose to reflect that in their name after marriage, as a symbolic thing. And I was responding to the denigration by OP of women who chose their married identity as their primary one.
As I said before, nothing wrong with keeping or changing your name on marriage.

Laphem, it's not a married identity, it's his identity. I had no discernable career when I got married and am a SAHM now, but it's still important to me that I didn't change my name when I got married. My husband and children still make me very happy, having the same name as them has nothing to do with it.

I have a friend who changed her surname when she got married and yet uses her original surname still professionally. How does that work, legally? Are there any implications? Can anyone call themselves whatever they like for different roles in life?

likewise laphem i'm sure a married sahm who keeps her own surname is not equally as attached to her husband and children?

that looked as though i thought she was an actor; i don't, obviously!

Heroic, you seem to think there is something wrong with valuing married identity more than professional?
Firstly, not every woman has a profession. Lots have jobs that they do to make ends meet.
We are not all the career driven, high succeeding high flyers you see showcasing their homes in the weekend supplement of the guardian y'know!
I personally think anyone who got their primary identity from the office based, bureaucratic job I have would be crazy, but each to their own.
I see us as primarily a social species, so make no apologies for the primacy of social relations in my life and identity. My husband and son make me way happier than sitting on my arse in front of a computer ever did or does.

I don't think Cherie Blair ever changed her name, she was just called that by everyone.

Interestingly, it seems to go the opposite way with Royal Brides. HRH Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is still called Kate Middleton by all and sundry and Diana, Princess of Wales was Lady Di to many people until the day she died.

Shame about Amal Alamuddin . . . Clooney is a fugly name.

i would be interested to know her reasons, though of course they are no one's business but hers so i wouldn't expect her to share them

in the acting industry very few women change their names professionally and that is going back many decades (i assume due to reputation and equity etc), so it is very usual when two actors marry for them both to keep their own names. presumably though amal sees both personal and professional benefit

Maybe she hated the alliterative name her parent's gave her? That is the reason I changed my name on marriage. What a relief it was to give a name over the phone that didn't sound twee and have people going 'can you repeat that?'

My married name is now my professional name & it sounds much more professional than the one my parents lumbered me with.

No it won't damage her career but it sends a pretty clear message about who gets top billing in their relationship.

And yes, choice is the most important thing in the world but that doesn't mean that all choices are feminist. Or that we can't have an opinion on someone else's choice, especially on a discussion board!

I didn't change my name. Some of my friends did (all in same career) & I don't see any great difference in career success between those who did and didn't. It's her choice, as people said, I think people will still know who she is!

I'm a professional woman with scientific publications in my maiden and married name. I chose to take my DH's name on marriage. My choice. I'm sorry it disappoints you. But I'm an intelligent woman with 3 degrees to my name. I thought it through and made a decision that was right for me, as I'm sure Amal Clooney did. I have not lost any credibility, everyone in my circle and quite a few in my academic subject area knew me as my maiden name and know me under my married name too. It has not been career damaging (and I do know this as it's my career and not yours).

What Orange said.

I know many many senior female barristers, accountants and people working in the City who haven't changed their name. I am one of them. I don't need Amal or anyone else to keep/change their name to influence what I do.

Equally, 5 year old dd is growing up thinking its normal to have 2 names, one at work and one at home, as that's what mummy and all her aunts (on both sides of the family) do. I can bring dd up as a feminist without needing the help of a high profile woman.

I would also add that Cherie Booth carried on practising for many years as Cherie Blair but still the papers referred to her as Cherie Blair QC. She is even more successful than Amsl, more high profile career and married to someone who (back then) was I guess as high profile as Clooney.

Ehric, others have very clearly explained why it is not career damaging for Amal.
And not every woman gets their primary identity through their job.

Ehric, in her case though, no one won't know who she is post name change