Keeping maiden name after marriage.

[CoffeeLover87]

Hey everyone! So my partner and I have been together for 5 years now and we've finally decided to tie the knot. Super excited! But I'm not really keen on changing my surname after we get married. I've always had my name and I quite like it.
Just wondering what others have done - did you take your husband's name or keep your own? Any regrets either way? For those who kept their maiden name, has it caused any issues?

I kept my name. It's caused zero issues.

Kept my name and no regrets. Husband didn’t like it initially as he is a bit more traditional and found it ‘strange’, but don’t think he ever thinks of it now 10+ years on. In many ways it makes life easier as no need to change everything.

I would think the only potential issue would be if you have kids, which name would they have and would you mind having a different surname to your children. I only changed my name because I wanted to have the same family name as my kids and my husband didn't want to be change his name. He had the nicer surname, so I wasn't bothered. But I wouldn't have gone through the faff if it hadn't been for the kids.

Kept mine. No issues whatsoever.

I kept mine. Been married over 40 years. Never a problem. The kids have my husband’s name (only legal option when they were born). Neither they nor their friends had any problem with the different surnames

We did have a child but decided boy = dad’s name, girl = mine. Child is boy so has dad’s name. No issues at all.

I hated my maiden name so I was delighted to change it, but it's totally acceptable to keep your name if you love it.

My friend kept hers, she occasionally gets referred to as 'Mrs (husband's surname)' and a few Christmas cards made out to 'Mr & Mrs (his surname)' from relatives assuming, but it's no big deal.

Kept mine. No issues. Saved me a load of bother with passport, driving licence etc.

I’ve kept my original name (dislike the term maiden name). I pretty much always thought I would).
I didn’t want the hassle of changing and thought why should I change my name that I’ve had all my life when most men don’t.

Usually on these threads you get people saying they had a horrible surname and changed it to theirs new husband’s. Or that they wanted the same surname as their children. We have double barrelled DC.

I do wish I had done this. I was so passive (or naive) when my dc was born 😒

Husband kept his name and I kept mine! Kids have both.

I can't believe this is still a debate we're having, to be honest.

The onus should not be on the woman to change her name. It's utterly archaic.

Yet, even now, when I've been married for 2.5 years and kept my maiden name, I receive post (from relatives!) addressed to "Mrs Husband's Name"

Sigh.

Keep your name if you like it, or your husband can change his name.

Me and my DH both kept our own names and haven't had any issues apart from other people not seeming to understand that it's possible.

Didn't change my surname, didn't want to, no issues whatsoever.
Travelled abroad solo with child who has different surname, no issues.
Wish I'd given kids my surname but a bit late now!

I wanted to keep name but double barrelled as a compromise, although the only people with an issue were parents and in-laws, not my husband. Still use just old name at work.

Wish I'd stuck to original plan of keeping my name as my double barrelled is really long and I feel mortified when i have to share it with anyone 🙈

Kept my own name. No issues.

Kids have DH’s name and my mum’s (maiden) name as a middle. No issues.

I kept mine but here in Ireland you can legally use both interchangeably. We live where my husbands family come from so people here call me by my married name but at work or on ID I use my original surname. All the women I work with and women in my family do likewise as their qualifications are in their original surname.

Husband took my name as he didn't like his.

This

Just give the kids your name! I have kept my maiden name, partly principal, partly as I couldn't face the admin of trying to change everything...

But there's two parents, so it can make it difficult to decide.

I changed mine. Didn't really want to but felt a bit pressurised and then thought everybody else does so what's wrong with doing it.

I hated not having my own name. Ended up changing it back!

Don't bother. Turns out most of the rest of the world doesn't require women to list their name upon marriage. Just the English speaking countries. Many countries allow the wife to use her husband's name but her official name remains her actual (hate the word "maiden") name.

What issues could it cause to change absolutely nothing?
it's not my maiden name either, it's just my name.

I didn’t change my name. We’ve been married 24 years and have 2 children. It has caused no issues at all.

Very occasionally when the DC were young I’d get called Mrs child’s surname by a teacher but I just let that go as it was an understandable thing given that the teachers saw my DC a lot more than me.

I kept my name. The kids have surname as their middle name. Sometimes I get called Mrs Hisname, sometimes he gets called Mr Myname. It doesn’t bother us.

DH and I have both kept our names. DH wanted to take my maiden name but his family were upset about that.

When it came to DC we double barrelled (and ultimately intend to switch over ourselves when passports etc. come up for renewal), but it's a bit of a mouthful - the names somehow don't work that well together - and we're both not sure what the DC will make of it when they're old enough.