Did you, have you, would you change your surname?

I changed my surname back to my maiden name once I got divorced as I had always hated the surname and the whole family! My kids even changed their names later when they were older just to rid themselves of this horrible family.

I married a man with a nice short name which never has to be spelt out so I took it as mine. My maiden name was always misheard and often misspelt! DD is recently divorced but keeping her married name, she lives away from us and our area and every one she knows in her locality knows her as this.

I have kept my late husband's name because I want to have the same name as my children. Had I remarried I really don't know what I would have done. Quite a difficult decision. I know I would refuse an unpleasant surname. E.g. Smellie, Dumbell or Bates.

It never occurred to me when I got married in 1970 that I could keep me single name. It seems incredibly old fashioned by today’s standards. Why shouldn’t a man take your name? What has made me cross over the years is to have a letter addressed to Mrs. husband’s christain name then his sur name. I.e. Mrs. John Smith. That always made me feel like a chattel!

I always say that the only reason I married my husband was to have a surname people could spell .... I have been married for 46 years, so it was a good decision!

Yes

Before I was 9 I had already had 3 different surnames and by the time I was 30 I had had another 3 so I always said, "What's in a name?" I have now been married longer in years than I made in months before so after 24 years, it is the longest I have had a surname and I fully intend to hang on to it!

I married young at 18 and thought my new name was great fun. He died young (26) and I re married 6 years later, and again changed my name. He was an awful man and we divorced and I went back to my first married name, which was also the name my business was run under.
I have since married a lovely man at 65! And I said I didn’t want to change my name again. He seemed disappointed and I felt bad as he really is a lovely man, But I asked him when had he ever had to change his name and get used to being called a totally different name? He reluctantly agreed ?. I’m not sure in this day and age why anyone changes their name, except for the children aspect.
The most laughable thing is that on my original marriage certificate it has me down as Spinster - at 18!!!

I divorced after a 28-year marriage. No way did I want to keep my ex’s surname so I reverted to my family name. Took me some time to get used to it again. I objected to paying for it to be changed legally as I think women should automatically be allowed to use their birth surname after divorce, but it was worth the money in the end. Now I just object to being called Mrs. I call myself Ms if anyone asks my title.

I married in 1979, took my husband’s name but the marriage only lasted just over three years. When we divorced I didn’t change my name as I had just had the hassle of changing it three years earlier! I met my current partner nearly 40 years ago and still going strong. We’ve never married and our (then) mortgage was in both our names (my married name).

When I retired a couple of years ago I wrote a book for fun and self-published it on Amazon. I used my “maiden” name as it sounded better. My partner’s daughters thought it sounded good too. So I decided (after nearly 40 years) to change it back by deed poll. It was easy to do, but I still had the hassle of going personally into the bank, building society etc., finding another person to witness my new name, as two organisations wouldn’t accept my partner’s signature as he had signed the deed poll.

I was glad I did - as my married name was meaningless to me. My dear old mum (98) being a bit old fashioned asked me why, if I was changing my name, didn’t I change it to my partner’s name!!! There are always things you forget though - my Tesco vouchers were refused because my “new” name was on the card and the vouchers were in my old name! Their incompetence, not mine.

My friend had a very exotic Ukrainian “maiden” name and when she divorced uses this for informal purposes but has never done it officially. I think it was because she was well know in her profession by her married name. Horses for courses, I say. By the way, when I was a young girl I hated my ‘maiden” name - a traditional Scottish surname - but I love it now.

I prefer my married name, but if we were ever to split up I’d opt for a totally different surname.
It would need to be fairly short, unusual, easy to pronounce and easy to spell in the phonetic alphabet from behind a mask!

I'm divorced and have kept my married name, never liked my maiden name. Decided there's no point in changing back to something I disliked, also an awful lot of hassle to do so, passport, bank account, driving license & so on. Everyone knows me by my current name & would no doubt still use it. Also have a daughter still with the name & a son. My partner though hates the fact I've never changed it!! Not keen on his surname either!!!!?

I reverted to my born name once my offspring were 'adult'. It was simple. upon free advice I had to send myself a letter addressed to 'new name' and of course inform all official bodies, Inland revenue GP, ect ect......30 years ago and has never been a problem!

My husband was Indian and I've kept his surname, but nobody can spell it. My own surname was easy to spell and nobody ever made a mistake with it. I like my Indian surname much better. Its exotic and interesting.

When I married in the 70’s I took my husbands unusual name which took me ages to get used too. You always had to spell it. ( still do). When we divorced I kept it to be the same as my daughter. Forty odd years later I am very used to it my ex has died and my daughter took her husband’s name so now I am the only one with the unusual name. One thing nobody ever forgets me.

WOW what an interesting lot we are. I always assumed that keeping your original name was a new thing but some of you did it years ago. Thanks everyone who has posted, it is fascinating.

GreenGran, that was so funny. I'm afraid ( with my sense of humour ) I'd have really laughed----at the names, you understand and not at the people themselves.

PS A friend who took her husband's surname and kept it after the divorce to be the same as her 2 sons, is about to remarry and, not surprisingly, her new husband-to-be is not happy about her keeping her previous husband's surname! But she doesn't want to change it again and now regrets not keeping her family name.

Married in 1981 but never considered changing my name to his. Its part of my identity. Even had an argument with the solicitor (we were buying a house at the time) who claimed it was illegal not to change my name. Told him to look it up!

I kept my original ("maiden") name for my professional purposes as all my qualifications were in that, but used my DH's name in our married life (only because I actually liked it better than mine, AND because my father's family were horrible and I didn't want to carry it on). A friend had the opposite issue - her husband's father left when he was very young and didn't support the children (they were very short of money and opportunities growing up) and was generally a terrible father, so when they had their children they gave them HER name instead. ( Strangely, his mother was not happy about it and continues to send them cards and presents addressed to His surname!)

I felt proud to be Mrs..... after marrying in 1972.
The thought of not taking his name never entered my head.

Don’t know what I would have called myself if we had divorced though.

A divorced friend still kept her married surname, as she wanted to have the same name as her children.

I divorced and decided to take my mother's maiden name and felt so happy with that. Married name was very unusual and always spelling it so glad to get rid of it! My Grandparents name and felt keeping in the family, but didn't want to go back to my maiden name as felt I needed to move forward. When I remarried I refused to take my new husband's name as another complicated one!

I took my ex husband's surname when I married and kept it when we divorced , mainly because of my son - seen so many families where every member seems to have a different surname to the other!
Now I have had my married name for longer than my birth name, too much of a faff to change it back and never thought I was losing my identity taking a man's surname anyway - just think if it had been like when your parents married - the women not only lost their surname but their first name too when they became "Mrs Bert Bloggs"!

I didn't change my namr on marriage in 1972. I am 75.

My youngest daughter kept her maiden name when she married, and my older daughter wishes she had done the same. It is a foreign name, rather long and usually mispronounced, but they both like it’s meaning. The children of my younger daughter have their fathers surname and it doesn’t seem to have caused any problems.