Straw poll: if you married in the last 5 years, did you change your name or not?

[HerculesTheBerkules]

Just talking about this at work, I thought more people changed their names than didn't, but colleague thought otherwise. What did you do? (Just curiosity, you don't have to explain your decision btw!)

Some people are just pathetic

Go ahead and twist my words if it makes you feel superior but frankly it undermines your credentials more than mine.

Embarrassingly adolescent level argument there mrsblaidd, but I suppose there's not much you can do once you've complained that people don't campaign for a legal right that already exists.

But everyone I know who kept their maiden name, gave their children the husbands surname.

Not in my case.

However you cut it, I'd be using a male's surname that had been passed down through time. Never a family name passed down by women, only men. Why should I care which one I use? confused

Er, because one is your own family's history, and one is not? Why is that so confusing?

Never entered my head to change my surname - my DSis didn’t or my female cousins. I like my surname, had it a while and DH didn’t have any expectations that I would change my name as his sister got married the year before us and kept her surname.

DT’s have both our surnames - it’s was important to DH and I that both our family history was included. I’m Belgian but surname is French and DH is French Canadian, so the two surnames go well together, although it does make for quite a long surname and difficult to spell and pronounce (we live in London).

Where I am surprised is where the couple aren’t married but give the DC’s the fathers surname - why is this?

However you cut it, I'd be using a male's surname that had been passed down through time. Never a family name passed down by women, only men. Why should I care which one I use?

But some surnames originated with a woman. EG Webster, it denotes a female weaver, most likely being passed down via an illegitimate child. In fact, surnames ending with "ster" generally originated with a woman, it's a feminine suffix.

No I kept my name