Married and maiden names facts for kids

When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname. In the wife's case, her previous last name is called the maiden name and her new last name is called her married name.

In this article, birth name, family name, surname, married name and maiden name refer to patrilineal surnames (male/father's line).

English-speaking world

It is usually easy for women to change their last name at marriage because it has been culturally normal for so long. Some early cases in the United States held that under common law, a woman was required to take her husband's name, but newer cases overturned that law. Currently, American women do not have to change their names by law.

Common options

• Use husband's family name: The most common practice for a woman when she gets married is to change her last name to her husband's family name. Children that are born to them also use the husband's family name. Some families (mainly in the USA) have a custom of using the mother's maiden name as a middle name for one of the children—Franklin Delano Roosevelt received his middle name in this way.
• Retain the birth name: Women who keep their own surname after marriage may do so for several reasons:
  • They object to the one-sidedness of this tradition. Some women feel that it is demeaning for them to take their husband's last name. The American suffragist and abolitionist Lucy Stone (1818–1893) made a national issue of a married woman's right to keep her own surname (as she herself did upon marriage) as part of her efforts for women's rights in the United States. Women who choose to keep their prior names have been called "Lucy Stoners."
  • They are the last member of their family with that surname.
  • They want to avoid the hassle of paperwork related to their change of name.
  • They prefer their last name to their husband's last name.
  • They are famous and recognized by their maiden name.
• Join both names (hyphenation): It is less common for women, especially in the U.S. and Canada, to add their spouse's name and their own birth name. Examples of this include U.S. senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, U.S. congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and U.S. congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.
• Name blending: Although less common than name joining, a growing trend is the blending of two surnames upon marriage. This means adding parts of the two names. An example is Dawn O'Porter.
• Maiden name as middle name: Examples are Amy Coney Barrett, Maryanne Trump Barry, Melba Pattillo Beals, Mary McLeod Bethune, Jaime Herrera Beutler, Shirley Temple Black, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Candace Cameron Bure, Margaret Truman Daniel, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, Sandra Day O'Connor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Jada Pinkett Smith.
• Husband's last name as a middle name: An example is Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (born Kristina Marie Pérez).
• Wife's maiden name as a middle name: Examples are Brooklyn Peltz Beckham and John Ono Lennon.

Legal status of male name changes at marriage

The Name Equality Act of 2007 was passed to allow either spouse to change their name, using their marriage license as the means of the change; the law took effect in 2009.

Canada

In most of Canada, either partner may informally assume the spouse's surname after marriage. The custom in Québec was similar to the one in France until 1981. Women would traditionally go by their husband's surname in daily life, but their maiden name remained their legal name. Since 1981, if anyone wants to change their last name, the have to get the court's permission.

Spanish-speaking world

Spouses keep their original surnames. Following Spanish naming customs, a person's name consists of a given name followed by two family names (surnames), the father's and the mother's. Any children a couple have together take both first-surnames, so if "José Gómez Hevia" and "María Reyes García" had a child named "Andrés," the resulting name would be "Andrés Gómez Reyes."

Portuguese-speaking world

Wives usually assume the family name of their spouse, although there is a recent trend of women keeping their maiden names. A person's name consists of a given name followed by two family names (surnames), the mother's and the father's.

Other European countries

• Austria: Before April 2013, a woman took the last name of her husband at marriage. Since 2013, marriage does not automatically change a woman's last name.
• France: Any married person may officially use their spouse's name by changing their name or combining both last names. Before 2013, women usually used their husband's name in everyday life.
• Germany: Since 1977, either spouse can change their last name to the other spouse's name. Double names may be used, but they have to be hyphenated.
• Greece: Since 1983, women have been required to keep their birth names their whole lives.
• Italy: People keep their surnames.
• Netherlands: Married couples each keep their surname, but they may be addressed by their spouse's last name. If the couple that is married has children, they may choose which surname to give the child. If they do not choose, the child automatically bears the father's last name. If they are not married, the child automatically bears the mother's last name.
• Russia: It is customary for a newly married wife to adopt the husband's family name. The couple has to officially apply for this name change.

Asian countries

• China: Traditionally, a married woman keeps her maiden name and children inherit the father's name.
• Hong Kong: Some people have adopted the British tradition of women changing their last name or adding their husband's Chinese surname to their own.
• Iran: It became required in 1918 to use surnames in Iran, and only in this time, the heads of families had the right to choose their family members' (including the wife's) surnames. Currently, it is extremely unusual for either spouse to change his/her surname after marriage in Iran.
• Japan: Most Japanese women take their husband's surname when they get married.
• Korea: Traditionally, Korean women keep their family names after their marriage, while their children usually take the father's surname. Today, many women keep their maiden names.
• Philippines: Women can choose among different options when they get married:
  • She can be referred to by her middle name and her husband's surname (e.g. Maria Isabella Flores Garcia-Dimaculangan/Ma. Isabella F. Garcia-Dimaculangan).
  • She can take the husband's surname and make her maiden name her middle name (e.g. Maria Isabella Garcia Dimaculangan/Ma. Isabella G. Dimaculangan).
  • She can take the husband's full name with a prefix to show that she is his wife (e.g.Mrs./Ms. Dimaculangan).
• Taiwan: Taiwanese women generally keep their surnames after marriage, while their children may inherit either the father's or the mother's.
• Thailand: An old law used to require that a wife take her husband's surname. Women can choose to keep their maiden name now.
• Turkey: Since 2014, women in Turkey have been allowed to keep their birth names alone for their whole lives instead of using their husbands' names.
• Vietnam: In Vietnamese culture, women keep their maiden names and children inherit the father's family name.

Genealogy

Genealogists often also make note of all surnames used by a person during their lifetime. This helps them keep better records for families.

Interesting facts about married and maiden names

• A maiden name is a person's birth name, which is sometimes replaced by their spouse's family name after marriage.
• According to a Google survey, the percentage of women who kept their names after marrying for the first time in the 1990s was 18%.
• Asian and Hispanic women are more likely to keep their maiden names.
• Democratic women are more likely to keep their maiden name after marriage.
• The tradition of U.S. women taking their husbands’ last names reaches back to English common law that provided a husband's coverture (protection) for the wife.
• The recent trend with women to keep their maiden name probably comes from the fact that they are marrying later in life and have already established a name for themselves that they do not want to give up.

See also

In Spanish: Nombres de nacimiento y de matrimonio para niños