Married Last Names

[Turn the Page]

Yeah that seems rather silly...
Biggest paperwork mistake I ever made was legally hyphenating my name when I got married. It's been a hassle ever since and I wish I hadn't done it. Oh well...at least it's not Smith-Smith!

Yep. I won't go so far as to say I wish I hadn't done it but it is a bigger hassle than I thought it would be. Neither last name is long, which helps, but they are both somewhat unusual names nobody can spell properly. I think if I was Smith-Jones it would be easier. Smith-Smith is just dumb.

That said, I do know a couple in which the man's first name is the same as the woman's last name. We're all really hoping that if they get married he takes her last name.

 

[AppleDumpling]

I would say no to Smith-Smith. I get her intention, but think it looks and sounds awkward, and will likely cause confusion. IMO, she is lucky to be in an ideal situation to keep her family name and take her husband’s at the same time.

Reminds me of a former male colleague of mine whose last name is Kelly. He married a woman with the first name Kelly. She told him while she had always planned to follow tradition and take her DH’s name, she just couldn’t do it. The thought of going by Kelly Kelly for the rest of her life was ridiculous. He agreed and was fine with it.

 

[mjkacmom]

My maiden name was a doozy, I couldn’t wait to change it.

 

[china mom]

Yep. I won't go so far as to say I wish I hadn't done it but it is a bigger hassle than I thought it would be. Neither last name is long, which helps, but they are both somewhat unusual names nobody can spell properly. I think if I was Smith-Jones it would be easier. Smith-Smith is just dumb.

That said, I do know a couple in which the man's first name is the same as the woman's last name. We're all really hoping that if they get married he takes her last name.

I know a Kim Khem (pronounced Kim). I would have had to rethink that marriage proposal

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Yep. I won't go so far as to say I wish I hadn't done it but it is a bigger hassle than I thought it would be. Neither last name is long, which helps, but they are both somewhat unusual names nobody can spell properly. I think if I was Smith-Jones it would be easier. Smith-Smith is just dumb.

That said, I do know a couple in which the man's first name is the same as the woman's last name. We're all really hoping that if they get married he takes her last name.

I would say no to Smith-Smith. I get her intention, but think it looks and sounds awkward, and will likely cause confusion. IMO, she is lucky to be in an ideal situation to keep her family name and take her husband’s at the same time.

Reminds me of a former male colleague of mine whose last name is Kelly. He married a woman with the first name Kelly. She told him while she had always planned to follow tradition and take her DH’s name, she just couldn’t do it. The thought of going by Kelly Kelly for the rest of her life was ridiculous. He agreed and was fine with it.

I have a friend with this exact situation! She married a man whose last name is the same as her first name. And she took his name! She’s a real life Kelly Kelly (but with a different set of K names)!

 

[wenrob]

So maybe its just me, but I think this is the stupidest thing ever....

My co-worker, Becky Smith, is engaged to Bob Smith. Strange enough, but hey, it happens. Smith is her maiden name.

She is planning on hyphenating her last name to: Smith-Smith.

Huh?

On “The New Adventures of Old Christine” she is Christine Campbell-Campbell.

I get not wanting to let your last name go but that’s just silly.

 

[Tattylou]

My initial thought was “Smith-smith is wierd”. I know that is not a p.c. Response, but it’s my gut reaction. Not sure why they would bother.

 

[Skippy918]

I would say no to Smith-Smith. I get her intention, but think it looks and sounds awkward, and will likely cause confusion. IMO, she is lucky to be in an ideal situation to keep her family name and take her husband’s at the same time.

Reminds me of a former male colleague of mine whose last name is Kelly. He married a woman with the first name Kelly. She told him while she had always planned to follow tradition and take her DH’s name, she just couldn’t do it. The thought of going by Kelly Kelly for the rest of her life was ridiculous. He agreed and was fine with it.

I knew someone with the name Taylor Taylor. Her married name was Taylor. She had said her maiden name was really complicated so she was okay with having her first and last name be the same.

 

[aprilgail]

that is so odd.

 

[happily single]

I knew someone with the name Taylor Taylor. Her married name was Taylor. She had said her maiden name was really complicated so she was okay with having her first and last name be the same.

I have seen several males with the same first and last name (a family court judge in RI comes to mind). I never understood. A female could be expected to get married, changing their last name, but males typically keep the same name forever

 

[FlightlessDuck]

My initial thought was “Smith-smith is wierd”. I know that is not a p.c. Response

Political correctness has nothing to do with thinking that hyphenating the same last name is weird.

It is weird.

 

[bjscheel]

My daughters went to school with a couple kids with the same last name as us, but a different pronunciation. She had no intentions of it, but I told DD if she married one, she could hyphenate and explain to everyone how it looks like the same name but it's not. Or I wonder if she would have "changed" her name and gone by the new pronunciation??

 

[wenrob]

Yeah that seems rather silly...
Biggest paperwork mistake I ever made was legally hyphenating my name when I got married. It's been a hassle ever since and I wish I hadn't done it. Oh well...at least it's not Smith-Smith!

This caused a huge glitch with our dentist getting paid. Her name was hyphenated so the computer software for insurance would only pick up the first part of her name. Took weeks to straighten it out.

I thought about using a hyphen but my maiden name is 9 letters long and DH’s last name is 8 letters long. It was already hard to fit either in that little box and my signature would have been ridiculous so I just took his.

I changed my middle name to my maiden name when I got married. Most everyone I know does it that way.

I thought about doing this, it’s what my grandmothers did. My sister and I are the last with our maiden name but again just too long.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I kept my own name.

 

[DisLiss]

Knowing how difficult it is to have a double surname, hyphenated or not, AND knowing what it's like to have a surname that gives people pause, I predict that she'll spend the rest of her life explaining it, correcting it, and verifying it. And even then, she'll still be addressed as simply Mrs. or Ms. "Smith" in person, in print, and in voice messages all of the time anyway.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Why cause herself all that hassle?

 

[RedAngie]

Punk singer/poet/author Patti Smith married a Fred Smith. As far as I know their kids just use the one Smith for their surname.

 

[Colleen27]

I don't quite get hyphenating in general. Change your name, don't change your name, whatever, but the hyphen just seems like a major pain in the rear. But that might be me thinking of how it would have worked out for me - if I'd hyphenated, my last name would be 18 letters long (not counting the actual hyphen)!

I agree with the previous poster - it seems like hyphenating in that situation would lead to feeling like you have to explain the "no relation" part over and over again. Better just to go with one Smith and move on.

 

[RedAngie]

I kept my own name.

So did I. Both times I got married.

The first time I would have ended up with a somewhat infamous name if I had taken exH’s surname.

By the time of my second marriage I was already 51 and it seemed silly to change.

Neither husband minded.

 

[penn19]

On “The New Adventures of Old Christine” she is Christine Campbell-Campbell.

I get not wanting to let your last name go but that’s just silly.

I thought it was Christine Kimball Campbell?