GTKNY: Did you keep your maiden name?

Meggiemuggins

Just curious - did you keep your maiden name?  If so, what did your DH think?  Whose name does your LO have?

I kept my maiden name, because DH asked me to. My last name is one syllable and easy to spell.  His last name is terrible, difficult to spell and starts with "Poo".  He said it was torture growing up, and he didn't want DS going through it.  So DS and I have my last name, while DH slogs through life with his monstrosity.  He hasn't legally changed it to my name, but we use my last name 90% of the time.

Tulips114

I took DHs name, so the girls have his name too.

lc&jw

I kept my maiden name for the first year and then took DH's name once we started getting serious about TTC. I really wanted our family to all share the same last name, but I was initially very sad about giving up my maiden name. Five years later now, I have no regrets.

Gftf7

I changed my name and LO has my H's last name too. I wanted us to all have the same last name.

I went from a very easy last name to a confusing last name. Not that many more letters, but no one ever guesses how to pronounce it. I don't even say my name on the phone, I just spell it for people, and say a word that starts with each letter (alpha, bravo, Charlie, etc). My H's sister went the other way (from the confusing last name, to an easy last name) when she married. She warned me.

But, I resigned from work shortly before I got married, and now live in my H's home area. It really just made sense to change my name. My H and I briefly talked about him changing to my easy name, but he decided not to. DH's dad is so sweet and kind and would never say anything, but it's a bit of a pride thing I suppose. My H and his dad work together 6 days a week and our LO is now the 5th generation to live here (all with the same last name).

Gftf7

Forgot to mention that my maiden name is now my second middle name, so I still got to keep it, which was important to me.

Edit: my original middle name is a variation of my grandmothers name, so I didn't want to get rid if that name either. I'm complicated like that.

cinnasugar

I took DH's name and the kids have his name.  I didn't have a real professional reason to keep it, and DH didn't really care either way.  I just figured it would make things easier in the long run.

My first and middle name are the same as DH's grandmother's were, so when we got married, I ended up having the same exact name that she had (she passed away when DH was a kid).  It is kind of sentimental because my engagement ring came from a ring she had...so that is kind of neat.

SummerLove21

I kept my maiden name for a few months, then changed it to DH's. I was starting my credential and I didn't want to change it down the line and confuse kids.

I went from one last name that no one could spell/pronounce correctly to another last name no one can spell/pronounce correctly. The only difference is the maiden name is Portuguese and the married one is German.

wineandcake

We aren't actually married so I still have my name, him and DS have his. I love my last name, it's very French, and my dad is the last male in his immediate family with the name.

I don't think I'll change it if we ever give in and get married, I really hate his last name. His parents divorced when he was 3 and his dad was not a big part of his life. I wish his mom had given him her last name, she raised him with the help of his grandparents and if he had their last name I would change it. Plus it's a name that is very easily made fun of, my poor child

tamarar5

I ditched my impossible to say and spell Polish last name and took DH's super common, English last name. . Elliott asks Amelia have his last name too. In social settings, ceilidh also goes my his last name, but legally, she still has my Maiden name. DH will adopt her, and she will take his last name, but we can't even start the process for a year or so. We have to prove that we're going to stay married for the long haul before anyone will represent us in court.

Poor girl. C has a Gaelic ethnic first name, and a Polish last name. She's lucky I skipped the Welsh spelling of her middle name that I like better.

kleigh926

I took DH's last name. It was never really a consideration for me not to. Maybe if he had a horrible last name it would've been different. My maiden name was common and easy to spell. My married name is much less common and I almost always end up spelling it. People often mispronounce it too, so it can be kind of annoying, but whatever.

djm31012

We all have DHs last name, even though my maiden name is SO much better. 

Puck1182

I'm greedy apparently. I hyphenated. I wanted to keep my last name because it's what's on my degrees, so I didn't want to deal with proving it was really me. Plus, I know myself well enough to know I'd lose momentum changing them. All my credit cards are still just in my maiden name. ;-)

But I still wanted to take DH's (ridiculous) last name so that when we had kids we could identify as a family unit with a single name. So I don't really care in a social setting whether people just use my married name or the hyphenated version, I really just did it for purely practical reasons. :P

elliespiral

My maiden name is now my legal middle name and we all have DH's last name, which can also be used as a first name, so I get called Last Name as first time all the time. I've taken to checking in to places (pedi, restaurant reservations) by saying "The last name is XX" so they don't ask twice!

singingsea

I took my husband's last name. I wanted to bump my maiden name to my middle name but my middle name is Ann and that's my grandma's middle name. She's very special to me. Glad I kept it. She passed away a month ago.

Gftf7

elliespiral said:

My maiden name is now my legal middle name and we all have DH's last name, which can also be used as a first name, so I get called Last Name as first time all the time. I've taken to checking in to places (pedi, restaurant reservations) by saying "The last name is XX" so they don't ask twice!

Ha! At restaurants, I use my maiden name, which can also be a unisex first name, instead of my first name or last name!

mishka29

I kept mine and DD has DH's last name. I added my last name as a second middle name though, so its still in there!

wells2010

I always planned to take DH last name, but I was totally mad when he told me I HAD to. Like, he would not have married me or something. He never gives ultamatims (sp?) like that, so it really shocked me. I just don't like being told that I have to do something!

jdilorenzo

I took DH's last name. So we all have the same name. My friends from home still call me my maiden name.

kelly321

It ended up actually being a hot mess to change my name because of a miscommunication with the embassy, but I took DH's. It was a lot more emotionally difficult for me than I had anticipated, but I wasn't at a point where it was important for my career, so it wasn't a big deal that way. I thought I would be getting a good deal going from a very English-sounding American last name to a German one, but it turns out DH's last name is not a common one and constantly gets misspelled.

Also, when we're back in the States and I'm in the town where I grew up, if I call somewhere I say, "Hi, this is Kelly MaidenName, well, now Kelly MarriedName" because no one knows who Kelly MarriedName is and everyone knew my Dad. (ok, that was really hard to write "knew" instead of "knows" ).

ericalee27

I took DH's name and both of my boys took DH's name.  I honestly really looked forward to it.  I had my father's last name, but he was not a part of my life and when he was, it was bad.  It let me shed some of that yuckiness.

draeray

I took my husband's last name. #1, I had my mom's maiden last name which wasn't even from her biological father so I really didn't have any attachment to it and #2 my husband's is short and simple and doesn't get misspelled compared to my maiden last name. I told him if we ever get divorced, I would probably keep it anyway and not go back.