Should Married Women Keep Their Last Names or Switch to Hubby's?

Married women have a given name at birth and live their whole lives with it. They should not have to change it because they are married. They can, however, hyphenate their last name with their husband's last name and call it good.

Women nowadays already have established themselves in their fields. They have their birth names that they have used for years. If they were baptized these then became their "God Given" names.

I struggled through 2 marriages and am now on a third. That means I had to change my name 7 times to get back my maiden name only to marry again, get back my maiden name, only to get married again. This can give you fears of multiple personalities if you continue on this path.

The law states that you must take his last name. It DOES NOT however say that you can't hyphenate your last name with his last name.

Every time your name changes you have to change it with Social Security. Each time you have to bring them proof of who you are and why you are changing your name. You can simply change it to a hyphenated name and acknowledge your husband but by keeping your maiden name you acknowledge your given name.

A woman grows up all her life with her given name. She establishes a work history with her given name. She also has business acquaintances and friends that know who she is by her given name.

Why should she give it up now? Why change her entire life because she married the man that she loves? She may wish to acknowledge him but she doesn't have to. She can remain under her maiden name until Social Security should find out that she is married.

Thus she can solve this solution by presenting Social Security with her Marriage Certificate and an application to change her name to a hyphenated name and they will accept it. Many women are doing this nowadays to keep their given names and acknowledging their families.

I know after all these times I have finally hyphenated my name so that just in case I should be single again and he doesn't check that little box on the divorce papers saying to give me back my maiden name I am still who my parents named me to be.