Maiden name

My daughter-in-law has kept her maiden name, one daughter and son-in-law use both names, the other two daughters took their husband's names, but one, now divorced, is considering reverting to her maiden name. So we have lots of different options in one family.

Here in Italy women don't take their husbands name on marriage but keep their birth name. Any children take their fathers name. When I remarried I kept my 1st husbands name because I was widowed not divorced so I still have the same name as my children.

My DIL has kept her maiden name. I always send cards etc to her using it.

I thought about keeping my maiden name when I married in the late 1960s but the whole thing would have been so complicated as no-one did it then and no-one could understand why on earth I wanted to keep it and there were all sorts of legal problems with passports, bank accounts etc.

I am still happily married to the same man but my definition of myself is based on my maiden name not my married name. I have thought of changing back but it is, once again, just too complicated.

All I did was send my birth certificate and divorce papers to the bank / driving licence authority and they accepted what I wanted to do with no problem. Once you have a driving licence and bank account in a name you can change anything else as easy as.

Oxon70 - anyone can choose to use any name they like so long as they are not attempting to break the law by doing so. If you wish, a simple document can be drawn up by a solicitor (it's not called Deed Poll - just a Change of Name deed) and this can be produced to any authorities like tax offices etc.

I forgot to say, when I did it before, it was in Scotland.

I found quite a lot on Mumsnet. It looks as though I can do it in any way from diy to expensive - will have to think about this one.

I think, rather strangely, you can use any surname in the world or you can imagine that you like so long as you are not trying to pass yourself off as another real person. I think the tricky one that you have to do legally is your first name. Not sure though.

I seem to recall there is a long, recent thread on the technicalities of this on our mother/daughter site, Mumsnet.

Hello all - my second post.
Having been following my ancestors all over the world in my family history research, I would like to revert to my maiden name - I was married and then, when divorced, chose a different surname in the ''70s. Can I do this without having to do it by deed poll?

I had almost forgotten my maiden name until I moved here to France. Now I have to use it all the time and supply copies of marriage certificate, birth certificate, five metres backstroke certificate etc etc for all official transactions. Very few women here keep their married name if they divorce. I quite often get letters addressed to me in my maiden name and I always have to pause to think who it might be for.

I reverted to my maiden name following divorce and am so glad that I did. OK there were times when the 'link' between me and my girls took a bit of thinking about - and finding the paperwork - to prove but it's never been TOO much of a problem.
My girls weren't sure about it at first as they were still at primary school but I soon reasoned with them that I was already called Mummy, H, Mrs ... and it wouldn't matter if someone called me Fred, I'd still be the same person and ALWAYS be their Mummy!

I reverted to my maiden name following divorce and have always used it professionally. I kept to my maiden name when I married for the second time but do sometimes get called Mrs T… instead of Miss/Ms D… The reverse happens more often when my husband is addressed by my name as Mr D… The only major problem I have ever had was when applying for a residency visa because I want emigrate. I have to be sponsored by a family member – my daughter. When she was born she and I had the same surname, then I reverted to my maiden name. She married and took her husband's name, but having always hated her first name, legally changed it. She divorced her first husband and has since married again, taking her second husband's name. Finding the various documents to show an unbroken link between us was something of a mission.