I'm Keeping My Last Name!

Moderator hat is on
 
Please start another thread to discuss things aside from the topic asked about which was taking the name of your intended.
 
Also please do be aware that we have newly engaged people on the list...try not to scare them too badly lol.
 
Really...there are a lot of interesting things to discuss about relationships for good and for bad...I encourage those that would like to...to start a new thread here at NDR. But please stay on topic within this one....I'll be the first to promise to do so []

Wow, never thought my question would become this serious, anyway...

I didn't even think about how someone would address a couple with two different last names. Mr. & Mrs. So and Such-Alright... That is kinda strange.

I guess I just feel so connected to my last name because it's a big part of my culture and to lose it I just feel like I'm loseing touch with my side of the family. I'm not calling them racest but it was hard to convince them that a "white non-catholic guy" was alright for me to date. I think they were hopeing for me to end up with a hispanic like myself. It is a big culture clash already, I would at least want to have a part of me to remind me of where I came from. On the otherhand I can see why he wants me to take his, it's who he is and to accept his as a husband would be to accept to take in an inportant part of him to make the two of us whole. Ok, I'm just babbling on right now but to me my name means a lot.

My maiden name is worse than my married name,but both hard to spell,so either,either for me []

Changing over to my hubby's last name was one of the most exciting things for me when we got married,it was like a whole new beginning.I also wanted us all(kids) to have the same last name,i couldnt bear having a different last name than my kids.

because it's a big part of my culture and to lose it

xebby you'll still be the same person from the same background whether you change your name or not.Wouldnt it feel odd having a different last name than your husband? People will still think you're boyfriend and girlfriend??
I think it's a nice tradition and makes a couple a whole if you know what i mean?? If a woman keeps her last name than marriage really is just a piece of paper that only those 2 really know about.

Gosh it's late and i'm probably making no sense at all [8|]

It is a big culture clash already,

Can you elaborate?I would have thought it would have been the other way round? I'm really interested in the differences you have encountered.

I would at least want to have a part of me to remind me of where I came from.

Why?Do you think you're going to forget? [] []

I guess my opinion is a name is a name is a name,and when you get married the husbands name also becomes the womans and their ensuing families names.Old fashoined,maybe?

Growing up, I'd never even questioned not taking my future husband's name. I figured it HAD to be better than what I'm stuck with now! I use Brooke on here (my middle name), because people usually assume from my first name that I'm African-American. (Trust me, after being called "home girl" & "mah sista" so many times online, it's just easier not to have to correct them!) Combined with my last name, people are always shocked when I go in to the first day of class or a job interview. Strangely enough, my bf's last name is even more common among African-Americans. Fortunately, people have an easier time spelling his name, so I figure I might as well take his. It looks like I'm going to be confusing people for the rest of my life, but at least I leave a lasting impression!

I hyphenated my name twenty five years ago. Why?  I figured that the person I was before I got married wouldn't disappear when I married, so why should the name?

DH-to-be gave me a bit of grief about it until I asked him to change HIS name to mine.  The argument ended VERY quickly!

At some point the hyphenated names just have to stop.

HAH!  I have a friend w/a hyphenated first name who hyphenated her last name when she got married.  Divorced 6 mos later and re-married (took just his last name). But no wonder their kid has 2 middle names now...ugh.

I didn't even think about how someone would address a couple with two different last names. Mr. & Mrs. So and Such-Alright... That is kinda strange.

 
Since I did not change my last name (too much paperwork for no good reason in my mind with some cultural reasons mixed in too), what happens sometimes is that my husband is called Mr. MyLastName and I am called Mrs. HisLastName. It usually just makes us grin. When we get mail from people who know both our last names, they often hyphenate by themselves.

I've often said I won't change or may hyphenate my name when I get married. I like my name (Bird), and I've always been a "Bird girl" (I'm one of four girls, no boys).
 
What's funny is most people who don't change their names seem to have some great relationship with their father. I haven't seen mine since I was 9. He just split. And yet I feel some great attachment to my name. I feel like that's who I am. Not terribly logical, but oh well.
 
In any case, I don't even have a boyfriend, so no reason to worry about this yet... []

I am going to hyphenate my name.  The wedding is set for May 26, 2007 & I can't wait.  I really like my last name so I wanted to keep it around.  The BF was not thrilled about it innitially, but after I told him that I would be happy if he took my name, he dropped it.