By Caitlyn Meisner | Copy Editor
Taking your partner’s name once married has been custom since the dawn of time. Nowadays, that’s not the case.
In 2015, 70% of women took their partner’s last name in celebration of their union. Of the 30% of the remaining women who chose to retain their given name, 20% kept their name in full and 10% decided to hyphenate their name, according to a Google Consumer Survey analyzed by The New York Times.
In comparison, in the 1980s, 14% of women kept their maiden name, and in the 1990s, 18% of women did.
Keeping one’s maiden name has been a politically charged conversation since it first happened in the 1850s with Lucy Stone, a female suffragette. After Stone, multiple women continued to face challenges to get paid or to vote — even after the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1919 — if they did not share a last name with their husband.
In light of this, I don’t think it’s necessary for women to take their partner’s name once they get married. I know I won’t.
As a woman who has been trying to build her career as a journalist, I want my career and published work to follow my name from when I started. I started as Caitlyn Meisner, and I want to finish under that name. My name will follow me everywhere, and I don’t want to confuse future employers with a name change.
Also, it’s an incredible hassle. It’s not as simple as just declaring yourself a new person. You have to change all of your legal documents — driver’s license, Social Security card and the like.
Many women who get higher education degrees struggle with this as well. For a lot of women, it’s a question of what name goes on the degree and represents their accomplishments for the rest of their lives.
I haven’t written off the idea of hyphenating my name, but I also don’t want my maiden name to be siloed into being my middle name. I already have a middle name.
And when it comes to children, I don’t think it would be that confusing. I plan to hyphenate mine and my partner’s names to represent our relationship and the product of it.
I promise this isn’t some feminist rant; it’s not coming from this place of anti-men. I just really don’t want to alter my personhood once I sign a piece of paper saying I’m married.
I know this union may mean more to some than others, but I think this is something to consider once you’re in a place to do so. Instead of going with the status quo, think about what your name will be once married to see if it really is something you want to do or is something you just think you should do.
Whatever you decide, I’m supportive. This is a personal decision, and I hope all women make a choice that fits their life and marriage.
