Do you want your wife to use your name?

[Jacob]

Wife kept her name; kids get mine. Of course her name is much easier to pronounce than mine.

[Lettow77]

Pretending surprise that it is still an issue strikes me as odd; it historically hasn't been an issue, as accepting the last name of the husband had overwhelming general acceptance. Feigned shock that anyone still 'clings' to that practice when in fact any controversy lies in the comparatively recent rejection of a very longstanding practice by what remains a fringe quarter of society is disingenuous.

[Sheilbh]

Didn't really crop up for me and my wife as she had a very common last name that she was glad to lose.

I know a girl who's definitely keeping her name. If she took her boyfriend her initials would be ASS

Glad it's not an issue for me though.

I also liked the traditional Scottish system, the wife takes the husbands name but her name is used for one of the children. So, say, 'Thomson Gunn', 'Robertson McKay' and the like.

[Maladict]

On a related note: we have friends up in Boston who, when they got married, the dude took the wife's name.

I'm seeing this too, or the kids getting the mother's last name when the parents both kept theirs.
Seems perfectly reasonable to me.

[Archy]

Over here the standard thing is that women keep there maiden name and The children get their father's name.
I've the same thing with my Gf and my daughter

Till 2013 this was even mandated by law, only when the father was unknown or didn't recognize his child the mother's family name was given.
From 2013 you can choose the family name of your childern it should be either father's, mother's or both. But what you choose for the first child will also apply for the following child.

[Josquius]

Oh, if my wife had hyphenated our surnames, it would have been completely ridiculous given how long both of them were.

On a related note: we have friends up in Boston who, when they got married, the dude took the wife's name.

Until a decade or two ago foreigners couldn't be the official head of a household in Japan so it was very common for foreign guys to marry Japanese women and take on the wife's name. Most mixed race Japanese older than school age have Japanese surnames as a result, despite there being far more foreign men:Japanese women relationships than vice-versa.

Its pretty common with traditional Japanese people even. If a family has nothing but daughters they will have a guy who marries one of the daughters take on their name and become their official family heir. A lot more of a big deal in the past when only men could hold property and all that, but the tradition is still there, the conservative family of a female friend of mine is expecting it of any man she marries. I'm pretty sure my ex's mother was scouting out the possibilities of that with me too, I got lots of questions about my family and whether my cousins were married and that sort of thing.

[Valmy]

Well my main thing is that I wanted everybody in the family to have the same last name.  So I approached this question by first determining what her plan was.  If she was planning on taking my name I would keep mine, if she was planning on keeping her name I would take hers.  But none of this 'Smith-Chen family' crap.  But in the event her last name was her Dad's, who she was estranged from at the time, and she was eager to take my name.  So that was that.

So....not really sure how to answer the question.

[merithyn]

Pretending surprise that it is still an issue strikes me as odd; it historically hasn't been an issue, as accepting the last name of the husband had overwhelming general acceptance. Feigned shock that anyone still 'clings' to that practice when in fact any controversy lies in the comparatively recent rejection of a very longstanding practice by what remains a fringe quarter of society is disingenuous.

I'm not seeing anyone saying they're surprised. Personally, I said that I was amused.

[merithyn]

So....not really sure how to answer the question.

I think your answer is the same as a lot of us: Don't care.

[Grey Fox]

If I ever get married (don't count on it) my girlfriend is probably going to keep her name. My kids have my name, I don't remember why we picked mine over hers but she was pretty against the Smith-Wessen combo(would have made a very long lastname). In Quebec you can also have the option of combining that half of 2 names to form a new one : Smith & Wessen can become Smessen, Wessith, etc.

[Valmy]

Smith & Wessen can become Smessen, Wessith, etc.

LOL?  Well I guess that is one way to do it.

[Grey Fox]

Smith & Wessen can become Smessen, Wessith, etc.

LOL?  Well I guess that is one way to do it.

I haven't heard of anyone doing it but it's right there on the form. 

[garbon]

Option in California too.

[garbon]

Pretending surprise that it is still an issue strikes me as odd; it historically hasn't been an issue, as accepting the last name of the husband had overwhelming general acceptance. Feigned shock that anyone still 'clings' to that practice when in fact any controversy lies in the comparatively recent rejection of a very longstanding practice by what remains a fringe quarter of society is disingenuous.

I'm not seeing anyone saying they're surprised. Personally, I said that I was amused.

People having different priorities - hilarious.

[Tonitrus]

Didn't really crop up for me and my wife as she had a very common last name that she was glad to lose.

I know a girl who's definitely keeping her name. If she took her boyfriend her initials would be ASS

Glad it's not an issue for me though.

Sometimes, I gotta think that such acronym-phobia is pretty sad as well.  I doubt people before recent modern times cared if their initials created a dirty word.