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You're married and...

(106 Posts)
Daisymae Sat 03-Aug-19 12:30:35

not taking your husbands name. I know this is not that uncommon now. Are you Ms. Miss or Mrs. It's a bit odd calling yourself Mrs (Your maiden name), sounds a bit like you married yourself. Or you are your mum. Or you married your dad. Which is even worse. I think it's reasonable to be Miss or better Ms. (Your maiden name)
Any experience in your family? Thoughts?

willa45 Sun 04-Aug-19 16:05:07

I'm a Mrs. who (52 years later) still goes by her husband's surname. It's also how I appear on all my credentials and everyone who knows me, recognizes me by that name. Having said that, I was never a 'barefoot in the kitchen' kind of gal, so don't let the above fool you smile .

Davida1968 Sun 04-Aug-19 16:41:43

I married DH in the early 1980s and I've kept my maiden name ever since. (DS already had my name and wanted to keep it.) It has never been a major problem for me, in either my personal or professional life. I've never minded what "title" I am called by, just so long at it's not "Mr"!

annep1 Sun 04-Aug-19 16:49:17

My daughter kept her surname. The children have double barrelled surname. Will their children be triple barrelled.
My husband doesn't care what I call myself. It is only a name.

Kim19 Sun 04-Aug-19 17:28:07

Never occurred to me not to take my husband's surname even although I was a very liberated female. Think he might have been hurt if I hadn't. Still very glad that I did after all these years. Oh yessss.

Barmeyoldbat Sun 04-Aug-19 17:31:38

I refuse to use a title, why is it necessary. If pushed and have to provide a title I often try Madam, failing that miss.

chrissyh Sun 04-Aug-19 17:53:24

I certainly took by DH surname - in fact, he tells people it's the reason I married him. My maiden name wasn't horrible but I loved his. My DDiL is the same and loved changing her name.

sarahellenwhitney Sun 04-Aug-19 18:18:33

Even before becoming widowed, and unless I was some ones personal friend, I have always found it disrespectful being referred to by my Christian name. What happened to good old fashioned Mrs /Ms that is unless you/we have requested otherwise.

Molli Sun 04-Aug-19 18:18:45

It was second time round for us and I kept my previous married name. Mainly for professional reasons and also because having lived with it for 30 years I felt that it was 'me'! My brother in law also was getting married to a lady with the same christian name as myself and there would have been 'two of us with the same name'! It rarely is a problem just sometimes raised eyebrows or a quizzical look and so far we have never had to produce our wedding certificate to prove who we are.

Stella14 Sun 04-Aug-19 18:36:35

I married again 3-years-ago (I’m 60). I have not taken my husband’s name. I am also a Ms. Mrs comes from Mr’s i.e. the property of the Mr. Not a road I have ever been a fan of!

PennyWhistle Sun 04-Aug-19 20:04:02

Mr Whistle and I were in our teens when we married in 1980 - and the registrar advised that it was far too complex and expensive for me to keep my own Surname - so I reluctantly agreed to take Mr W's name on marriage.

For our 20th wedding anniversary, DH and our two DD's all changed our Surname by deed of name change to hyphernate my surname with his. That was the best present ever!

Ironically when our elder DD got married, her husband also chose to take her (and our) surname - so our DGD also shares our name smile

GracesGranMK3 Sun 04-Aug-19 20:13:51

Sure what you chose to call yourself, married or single, as long as it isn't done with intent to defraud, is nobody's business but your own.

GracesGranMK3 Sun 04-Aug-19 20:15:16

Surely not sure.

Ellie666 Sun 04-Aug-19 20:21:07

Just cos you are divorced doesn't make you not a MRS, stupid thing to say. You done't go changing things when you get divorced. Never heard of anything so stupid. You are still a mrs as you got married in the first place.

Ellie666 Sun 04-Aug-19 20:27:00

Sorry but I honestly believe people who want to be called by their surname AND the surname of their husband are just stuck-up people trying to be something they are not. You are either you surname OR you husbands not both, I think it sounds so pathetic having to address someone as "mrs two surnames", I use one or the other NEVER both and if they don't like it, tough. Don't force you modern over-the-top way of addressing people onto others. Get over yourselves for goodness sake.

GrandmaJan Sun 04-Aug-19 20:31:09

I’m married and proud to be Mrs. but my sister in law insists on being a Ms but annoyingly when she sends me a birthday card she addresses me as Ms. I just don’t like it but each to their own.

Iam64 Sun 04-Aug-19 21:16:00

Ellie666 your comments indicate you’re the one who needs to get over herself

GrauntyHelen Mon 05-Aug-19 15:52:08

I am Mrs husband's name in private and other title (related to work) and my own name at work/ public life

pinkquartz Mon 05-Aug-19 16:02:27

notanan2 my surname is one that no English person ever ever pronounces correctly yet it is reasonably simple. I am English/British but my grandparents are not.
Abroad in Europe my name is always pronounced perfectly correctly.
So I do wonder what is this English resistance to foreign names?
And also every time it happens I don't feel English, because I am made to feel "other"......so I can imagine how shite it must be for other people with foreign sounding names.

I have never come across Mx before.
As I get older I keep being referred to as Mrs and I am not. I am Ms. so many people jsut do not keep that simple pronoun in their head no matter being told many times. Bizarre? I think it is ageism. I am older and have a daughter therefore must be married even though I always make it clear I am Ms.

annep1 Mon 05-Aug-19 17:08:33

I thought Ellie666 was a bit OTT. My daughter certainly didn't choose a double barrelled name because she's "stuckup".
She thought it was more equal. I was merely pointing out the difficulty.
Re Ms Mrs etc. I don't know why when someone asks your name and you give it they then ask Miss or Mrs. It so irritates me. I like the idea of Ms but saying Mizz I dont like.
Why can men not be Mr and ladies Miss when there is actually a reason for needing to know the gender.

TerriBull Mon 05-Aug-19 17:49:12

Just wanted to add that the desire to pass the maternal name down isn't new. It was quite common in Victorian times, and possibly before to give one of, the often many children, the wife's surname before marriage as a fore name. If you are one of those who are interested in genealogy it's always good to discover the various names from both sides of the family. Both sides are important imo hmm

Elijah Mon 05-Aug-19 20:39:00

When my son got married he took his wife's family name. Not a problem as I've been divorced for over 30 years and went back to my maiden name with the prefix of Ms.

Loulelady Mon 05-Aug-19 20:58:54

I’ve been Miss Maiden name from birth, through first marriage, afterwards and now into my second and very happy marriage.
It seemed odd to me to change my name, it’s by no means universal across other cultures. I happen not to like sound of Ms, although I think it’s a sensible alternative, so I stuck with Miss.
It hasn’t caused any issues.
Solicitor friends of mine kept their maiden names, some just professionally, others completely like me, because having built a reputation and practice with one name, they didn’t want to change it. Some use Ms. others Miss.
There is no legal requirement to change your title upon marriage. It’s a choice.
I wish we were more like France where the use of Mademoiselle has shrunk to only being used for children or very young women, rather than strictly denoting an unmarried state. Better still would be to have the same situation as men do, one title only irrespective of marital status or age.

Loulelady Mon 05-Aug-19 21:10:41

Ellie666 ?
“Modern over-the-top ways” - Where the wife brought significant assets to a marriage, either financial or prestige, or sometimes to fulfil a parent’s
wishes where there were no sons, joining the surnames has been done since before the Norman conquest. It was never the norm, but equally it was not incredibly rare.
Of course as others have said, double-barrelled surnames are the norm in Spain.
Your ire in the topic is startling? I’m assuming you have someone you particularly dislike in mind who has done this...grin

GeorgyGirl Tue 06-Aug-19 13:25:31

When two people marry, they become one, so why not have the same surname, especially with children. Double-barrelled surnames these days are a sign the parents aren't married, but if you are married, both have the same surname, or why bother. I like being Mrs.

notanan2 Tue 06-Aug-19 13:40:44

Double-barrelled surnames these days are a sign the parents aren't married

No they're not.

A double-barrelled surname is still just A surname. Singular. Just with a few more letters and a hyphen than some other surnames.