i know some people who haven't taken husbands names, some who have but kept there's within their working environment, those who have and those who join forces and double the surname. Also I know of a lesbian couple who decided to create a new surname, literally you do whatever feels right that's probably the best explanation.

My family last name is Lord, HOW can I possibly stop using that name???

I've been married to the same man for 10 years, I still have my last name, it makes no difference & people who think other wise is rather silly considering I have done it, and trust me keeping your last name won't kill you, or your husband, if it did I'd be dead, or a widow.

I wanted to keep my last name as I wanted to carry on my father's last name and my last name has always been a big identity for me as no one in my country has it but my family, My husband didn't have to take mine but he chose to because he wanted our kids to have the same last name but that was his decision. It's 2018, I think people can decide these things for themselves instead of following some stupid tradition

'Couples suffer psychological problems and barely last' WTF? If they suffer it's because the husband feels cheated out of ownership. Second worst thing I did: Take my husbands' names. First worst thing: marry them. It 100% changes the dynamic of the relationship and they do act as if they own you. You don't need a piece of paper to love someone and if you have to give up your identity to satisfy their insecurities, either the relationship is doomed anyway (trust me on this one) or you will be miserable for years trying to live up to their expectations of what a 'wife' should be (and on this one).

its definitely just a hold over of patriarchal society. maybe at some point there was a "good" reason behind it like something to do with identifying blood lines, kin, or allies. But this day and age there is no reason to do it besides, liking the other persons last name more, being "old fashioned", or simply just because "that's what everyone does"

I took my husband's name because I liked his last name way better than the one I had. My sister kept her name when she married because she has degrees and publications under that name- changing it would have made a mess of things. She and her husband have been happily married for about 30 years now, so I'd say the name thing isn't hurting their relationship any. ;)

I think it is someone else's marriage and life which makes it 100% in the realm of none of my business

My wifes last name is doom, she would be crazy to give that one up

I didn't take his last name because 1) That would mean changing all my personal documents both in Korea and Croatia, as well as all my personal info on all the internet sites and apps and so on; 2) Should there be a failure in updating my new info into the system, I might get accused of identity theft; 3) Women in Korea don't take their husband's surnames anyway, not part of their culture. So... Yeah, nothing wrong with his surname, it's just practical reasons.

Depends on the country, too. In Spain everyone has their own name and that's that. No one is expected to change anything because they got married. Also, Spanish names consist of [name] + [first last name] + [second last name]. In the States, people only use one last name (I know because I'm American and this has caused me several "problems" here). When a couple have a child, they decide the order of the last names at the registry. You can also hyphenate names if you want. Nothing is imposed.

I haven't changed my surname for several reasons. My name was mine for 30+ years by then, it is my name, why change it. My husband has an unusual surname that people mispell and mispronounce (some people even after years of knowing him). Also, I worked with my husband's brother at the time (that's how we met) and I didn't want clients thinking I'd married the brother. But most of all, the name I'd gone by for so long was just me. I didn't need to have the same name to feel married. I believe it's perfectly normal in Italy to keep your surname. Probably in plenty of other places too. Our kid has his surname, that's fine by me. So far the school teachers seem to care enough to pronounce it right.

I'm curious why people still cling to this ridiculous tradition well into the 20th century.

I kept mine and added his with hyphen. I had researched my name back to it's origin and wanted to keep it but also wanted to take his name. The hyphenated name has occasionally been difficult, like when signing paperwork when we bought a house, (writer's cramp), but we have been married 21 years and through all the trials and tribulations, the name has never been an issue.

If it were important to my wife to keep her name I'd have no problem taking hers. It shows you're unity.

37 years married. Very happy. Kept both our names. Just live and let live people

It's forbiden where I live to take your husband name. Province of Québec, Canada.

Not only did I not take his name, but I gave my daughter my name

I never minded which name we had, he preferred his and his first name sounded stupid with mine so we went with that. It was never a gender or tradition thing. However, I HATE it when his parents write to me as Mrs (his initial - his surname). I HAVE MY OWN NAME!

Bored panda sucks. It never loads right

Changing my name wouldn't change me so it doesn't matter if I change it or not...... a rose by any other name.......

I've been married four times now and the longest by far (16+years) is my fourth and current wife, Ms. Fitzpatrick. She kept her name and I kept mine. And thanks to my little brother and his prison sentence, my name now has a stain on it so she wouldn't want it anyway. We are both Irish-American and we don't see a difference. And my last wife said the hardest part of the divorce was changing her name back, ha ha ha.