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Unusual Name Change

knottie6372dde543056fc0knottie6372dde543056fc0 member
First Anniversary
edited January 2018 in Wedding Customs & Traditions Forum
Hi everyone!

Soooo I'm getting married in June and I'm trying to make my decision about changing my name. Let me give you some background as to why I'm needing assistance. May I also add here that I've heard very strong arguments for both sides from family and friends and thought I'd open it up to some unbiased, completely honest responses.

My dad was born with no last name on his birth certificate (because of crazy Nana having children with a married man back in the 50's and 60's).  They wrote in his biological last name on school documents and things like that until my Nana married my dad's step-father. So when my dad was 17, because he didn't have a registered last name on his birth certificate, they only had to pay $5 to have his step-father's last name added to it. However, all of his brothers that shared the same biological father (along with all of my now cousins) kept their original last name because it was too expensive to change all the rest. My parents considered changing my last name back to the biological name when I was born, but because I was a girl they decided not to. And go figure now we all wish they had so I could hyphenate and just move on.

My full maiden name is Brittany Vaughn. Since I have no biological ties to that last name, I've always wanted to change it once I got married. My fiancé's last name is Spears. Thus making me Brittany Spears come June.

Now I'm all for living the celebrity doppleganger life; my only concern is applying for future jobs or major things like mortgages or things where they may think it's a joke and not take me seriously. However, Brittany Vaughn-Spears is a mouthful for a teacher and it sounds more like a German impersonator version of Brittany Spears, so I still don't like it.

I've considered changing to the old last name my dad grew up with and then hyphenating with Spears, but is that even possible?? Should I just rock my new celebrity name? What suggestions do you have? Y'all are the best!!
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Re: Unusual Name Change

  • CMGragainCMGragain member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited January 2018
    No one can decide this except YOU!  It is your name - your choice.  You could always use your maiden name as your middle name.

    There was another student at the University, many years ago, with my same name.  I often got her phone calls.  Since the calls were usually late at night from drunken Frat houses, I didn't welcome the confusion.  I started using my middle name to differentiate us.
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  • STARMOON44STARMOON44 member
    First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I’m not entirely clear, you’ve always been called Brittany Vaughn? If so, just don’t change your name at all. Problem solved. 
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  • ahoyweddingahoywedding member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    I think it's all about how you own the Brittany Spears, if you do want to change your name. I'm guessing from your post that you're a teacher? It maybe depends what grade you teach, but younger kids may not put it together and with older kids you could acknowledge the joke and then just roll with it. FWIW, I work in healthcare and hire nurses pretty frequently and don't judge them by their names. 

    It's kind of up to you, if neither of you or your FI feel attached to your current last names you could choose something else together (maybe an older family name on one side?). You could keep your maiden name or change it to his. 
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  • ei34ei34 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    It’s totally your decision about what will make you happiest.  
    Just touching on the Britney Spears thing- I know three women named Jennifer Lopez (two maiden name, one married name), and they’re all successful in their fields and live normal lives.
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  • southernbelle0915southernbelle0915 mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    It sounds like you don't have emotional ties to any last name. You don't care about your maiden name and you have concerns about taking your FH's name. So keep just your maiden name. You have no concerns with it, right?

    I mean, ultimately, this decision is really up to you. If you take your FH's last name, at least job interviewers won't forget you. And who gives a shit what loan officers think? If the paper work is legit and in order, they don't care. How many loans are you applying for anyway?
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  • short+sassyshort+sassy member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its

    Like the other PPs mentioned, pick the last name you like best!

    I don't think it's a big deal that taking your H's name would give you a famous person's name.  This is true for a lot of people.  I can't imagine it would affect anyone's decision about you (hiring, etc.).

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