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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not become Mrs Celebrity Name?

299 replies

SummerFate · 08/01/2026 17:27

I’m getting married later this year and had always assumed I’d take my husband’s name. I’ve never been particularly attached to my maiden name (divorced parents) and I’d like to have the same surname as my kids, which my mother doesn’t have.

However, if I do do this, I’ll have the same name as a celebrity. It’s not an A lister where it would be remarked on all the time, and it will still be a fairly ordinary name. (Think someone like Kaye Adams for the level of fame and ordinariness of name.) But it’s someone well known enough that I’ll definitely get “Ooh, I didn’t recognise you! You look taller on the telly” type jokes that I can do without. So I figure it’s just easier to keep my maiden name.

However, my fiancé has taken exception to this. He’s taking it personally and says I’m being daft: he said he’d understand me not wanting to be called Helen Mirren or Nicole Kidman, but that I’ll still have an ordinary name and that this celeb may be forgotten in a few years anyway.

I do get what he means, but he’s not the one who’ll be asked “Ooh, like the actress?” every time he gives his full name. I’ve also pointed out that a lot of women don’t change their name regardless, so he could have been marrying someone who never had any intention of being Mrs Name.

I’ve said we could double-barrel any children if that’s what he’s worried about, but he’s still complaining. AIBU?

OP posts:
Needmorelego · 09/01/2026 17:06

FuckRealityBringMeABook · 09/01/2026 16:54

I think you probably have to be of a certain age!

Well I am 50 and never really watched Corrie but as a kid in the 80s if it was on the telly while I was in the room I saw bits of it.
Was this character even before then?

Cheese55 · 09/01/2026 17:12

Gay men tend to double barrel i notice. Probably due to neither wanting to give up their name. Yet they expect women to.

Redpeach · 09/01/2026 17:12

Marylou2 · 09/01/2026 17:02

I know an older and rather fabulous lady from my Yoga class who didn't take her husband's name as she would have had the same name as a famous actress. If anyone could have pulled it off, she could, but she chose not to. It was an amusing story over a glass of wine but I know why she wouldn't want to deal with it on a daily basis.

Does one get asked their nslame on a daily basis? No-ones asked for mine today

BatshitIsTheOnlyExplanation · 09/01/2026 17:12

Radiatorvalves · 08/01/2026 18:23

I am not sure who Kaye Adam’s is, so you wouldn’t get comments from me! I’ve been married for 25 years and have never been Mrs DH. Not that he’s a sleb or sounds like one…. He’s just got an unfortunate surname that I don’t like! Never been an issue.

I've also been married 25 years and have never been Mrs DH Name, even though his surname is perfectly ok.

Bibblybobblyboo · 09/01/2026 17:24

I know someone who became Lorraine Kelly, and it’s been fine! It was extra funny when Lorraine Kelly was claiming to be Lorraine Kelly for tax purposes.

Moveoverdarlin · 09/01/2026 17:41

People would soon get used to it and not say a thing. I worked with a Katie Price once (when the famous one was at the height of her fame) and once people gave an initial chuckle it was done and dusted and never mentioned.

And I worked in a shop where every Friday I served someone called Pamela Anderson. I saw it on her credit card every week but never once mentioned it.

At my kids school there is a Rachel Stevens - never once heard anyone comment on it.

I don’t think it’s the big deal you think it is.

Ariela · 09/01/2026 17:44

You can always say in response to 'like the celebrity' comments:
'Didn't you know she took my name as a stage name because she really liked it?'

Especially if the celeb name IS a stage name.

wordler · 09/01/2026 17:47

@SummerFate I once worked with someone who had this same issue - she wrote about it for the BBC

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4113324.stm

muddyford · 09/01/2026 17:51

Mine is similar to a well-known actor. Think Janet Dench. You will get the odd comment but they fall off quite quickly. Except the tosser of a boss who addressed my Christmas card to Judi.

pouletvous · 09/01/2026 18:14

Depends who the celeb is…i would not want to be Katie Price or someone from Towie

it’s someone classy, it could be useful! May i reserve a table for Lily Collins?

zanahoria · 09/01/2026 18:33

FuckRealityBringMeABook · 09/01/2026 13:01

ANnie Walker was a longstanding Coronation Street character

Yes and not the sort of vibe most WAGs go for

SurroundedByEejits · 09/01/2026 18:39

When I got married, neither my husband or I liked our surnames so we both changed it to something that had meaning to us. My parents didn't care but his were upset that their name would die out with them.

Princessconsuelabananahammock9 · 09/01/2026 18:44

No one will care.

Noodles1234 · 09/01/2026 18:45

I wouldn’t let it bother you.
If anyone does just smile / laugh / say oh yes. Soon they’ll get bored.

don't let others dictate what you want to do, own your new name!

SummerFate · 09/01/2026 18:50

Princessconsuelabananahammock9 · 09/01/2026 18:44

No one will care.

But I care!

OP posts:
AndresyFiorella · 09/01/2026 18:54

Your worry about sharing a name with a minor celebrity does seem a bit ott, but him taking umbridge at you not changing your name would really piss me off. If changing your name is no big deal then he can change his. I bet the thought appalls him and he finds the very idea demeaning. Go figure.

Vole3 · 09/01/2026 18:58

My niece, and her husband, are both Alex Ferguson. Great for booking restaurants in Manchester..

Mrsnothingthanks · 09/01/2026 19:07

@Vole3 As in they both have exactly the same name?!!!

Mrsnothingthanks · 09/01/2026 19:09

@Cheese55 Pretty confident my husband isn't gay 😀 We both db"d.

PumpkinsAndCoconuts · 09/01/2026 19:31

The children can still have your name!

or he could take your surname.

ByWarmShark · 09/01/2026 19:32

I votes YANBU simply because he has no say in what you call yourself, that's entirely your choice, in the same way that what he calls himself is entirely his choice. Tell him to change to your name and then have a strop when he refuses. We're past the point when a woman became a man's property on marriage. Man Who Has It All is great for calling out the hypocrisy in stuff like this.

PumpkinsAndCoconuts · 09/01/2026 19:33

AndresyFiorella · 09/01/2026 18:54

Your worry about sharing a name with a minor celebrity does seem a bit ott, but him taking umbridge at you not changing your name would really piss me off. If changing your name is no big deal then he can change his. I bet the thought appalls him and he finds the very idea demeaning. Go figure.

Edited

This. I’m changing my name in two weeks but I wouldn’t do it if my soon to be husband hadn’t made it very clear that he would absolutely take my name as well.

Mrsnothingthanks · 09/01/2026 19:35

@ByWarmShark I agree. But I do think many men still feel it is a "slight" if their future wife declines changing her name and/or title.
I am grateful I am not married to a misogynist - he and I are both db'd as is our daughter. I'm also a Ms.

Darls3000 · 09/01/2026 19:36

What does he say when you suggest changing his name to yours. Two of my friends have done this and it’s great. Slightly regret that I didn’t do it tbh. I just kept my Maiden name instead.

MCF86 · 09/01/2026 19:38

Mrsnothingthanks · 09/01/2026 19:07

@Vole3 As in they both have exactly the same name?!!!

My dads parents had the same "short version" of their names too!