A lot has changed over the years when it comes to wedding and newlywed couples – from the type of weddings they have, the cost of their weddings, and if the bride will take her new husband’s last name. For a long time, tradition has stood that the bride will take her husband’s name after they exchange their vows and say “I do.” However, in more recent years, women have chosen to make their maiden name their middle name or kept their last name altogether.
With the legalization of same-sex marriage, LGBT couples have shown that this is one tradition they are willing to forgo. In fact, many choose to double barrel their last names after they marry, and share each other’s names. Moreover, couples searching for a new “family name” once they officially become family themselves, have decided to create a new one.
Many couples may never consider changing their names until their other half gets down on one knee and they begin planning their future together. Couple Rebecca and Chris Rosncline spoke of their decision to join their former names, Rosenthal and Celine, respectively, together.
“When my mother got married, she kept her maiden name as her middle name. But my middle name carries a lot of significance to my family history, so I didn’t want to get rid of it. And it felt strange to get rid of Rosenthal because it’s Jewish, it’s part of my identity…. I just had this instinct that taking Chris’s name seemed outdated for our relationship. We always talk about being a team, so why wouldn’t that be represented in what we call ourselves?”
Of course, many couples do continue to follow tradition whereby the bride takes on her husband’s name, but it is becoming apparent that more couples are choosing to either keep their maiden name or join their names together.