Changing Your Name

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If you are the bride, you may want to take your husbands last name after you get married. This has been tradition for some time now, and it is estimated that somewhere around 70% of brides change their last name. Of course this is not a necessity, and some brides opt against it. When it comes down to it, some brides feel comfortable changing their name, whereas others do not. It is a decision that you will have to make on your own. And it is also a decision that does not have a right and wrong answer. There are pros and cons to both sides of this debate.

If you do not like your last name, changing it after marriage is one way out. This is one benefit, but also one that does not come about very often. One of the biggest advantages of a bride changing her last name is that it will make life much easier as a family. If you have a family it is always easier to be able to have other people think of you as a single unit. For parents that have two different last names mistakes can be made, and people can perceive them differently.

Many brides also like the fact that they can take their husbands last name. They feel that this is a great symbol of their future together and is often reason enough for some brides to take their husbands name.

And finally, face the facts; you are going to be referred to by your husband's last name soon enough. When people know that you got married they are generally going to automatically assume that you switched your last name even if this is not the case. Simply put, making the change can make your life much easier.

But for some people, changing their last name is not right for them. They do not want to make this change, and they feel that they have the right to make this decision - and for good reason. The number one reason that a bride does not change her last name is because she feels like she is just getting married, not starting an entirely new life. Some brides feel like if they change their last name that they may be losing who they once were.

Some brides simply want to keep their last name because they have a strong feeling against it. After all, why should the bride have to change her last name? Even though it is tradition, many brides feel strongly against it in a political sense.

Also, for brides that hold down a job, it may be difficult to switch to a different last name. This is especially true if you are well known in your field, and a lot of people know you by your name alone. If this is the case, changing your last name may do a lot of harm to your career.

The good thing is that there are some alternatives that you can take advantage of as well. More so today than ever before the groom is taking the bride's last name. This is not a very popular thing to do, but it is picking up steam. This can be a great option if the groom does not like his last name, or is simply looking for a change.

Hyphenating your last name is also a great option to look into. In most cases the groom just keeps his last name, and the bride adds onto hers. But when it comes down to it you can pretty much do anything that you want. It is up to you to decide what you want to do, and what works best for both people.

And if you have really hit a wall, why not look into changing your last name entirely. This means that both the bride and the groom ditch their last name, and a new name is thought up. Believe it or not this does happen. Just make sure that if you are going this route that you legally change your name. You do not want to run into problems down the road because you did not take the appropriate steps.

The bottom line is that there are many options that the bride can exercise when it comes to changing her name. If you are in this situation, look into every detail and then make a decision on where to go from there.

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