Name change??

Rebis58

I'm having a really hard time with this decision. I always knew I would take FI's name, but it makes me very sad to be the first one of my three siblings to no longer have my family name (I have 2 sisters, 1 brother). My family name is one syllable, 5 letters, easy to pronounce, but very rare. I've never met another person except family with this name. FI's last name is long, German, difficult to pronounce and difficult to spell. Half of my friends still don't really know how to pronounce it. It's also really common. When I google my current name, I am the only person who comes up. With my new name, there is another person in my province with the exact same name. I know that's stupid, but it bothers me.

I won't be hyphenating, partially because FI (while respecting my right to choose my name) said that he strongly hoped I would choose to take his last name. The other reason is I don't want a ridiculously long last name. 

I am trying to decide whether to drop my maiden name all together, or make it my second middle name. I have no idea what I will decide. To be honest I will probably be waffling in my decision right up until the time that I actually change it...

bblouin

I'm keeping my last name as a middle name. So I will have two middle names. I was raised by my grandparents and I took my Memere's maiden name asy last name. So it is hard for me just to get rid of it. Our first daughter will have my current last name as her middle name.

ajmom2two

I am hyphenating since our girls last names are already hyphenated.  He will not be hyphenating though, which is fine with me.  My 8 year old has a friend in school named Grace Ann.  When I first met her I wondered why she had 2 first names.  Then I found out that her mom kept her last name and her dad kept his so her middle name is her moms last name and she has her dads last name for her last name.  Does that make sense?  So if her moms last name is Jones and her dads is Smith her name is Grace Ann Jones Smith...so no hyphenating but she gets to carry on both last names, until she gets married anyway ( I thought I better not post her real full name but her last names are both unusual names).  I kind of like how they did it.  

ajmom2two

Bblouin...I didnt see your post.  That is just what I was talking about in mine...your last name as the middle name of your first child!

Skyjewell23

YES! I am very excited about getting a new last name.

I will however have a mourning period over losing my maiden name. It will be strange to hear my name attached to his last name. I have been Skylar _____ for 21 years.

Weird, just weird.

BmoreBride311

I'm also not that close to my dad or his family, so I'm not too attached to my current last name. I do like that it's easy to spell, but my FI's name is only 4 letters, so it will be quicker to sign things

sara814

I'm changing my name. It feels a little weird, but like others have said, I want to have the same name as my future children. My middle name is my mother's maiden name, so if I keep my last name as a middle name I will have three family names. Ug. Seems very cumbersome. My biggest issue with the name change is what to put on my diploma. I am not established in the career I am working toward, and I feel like things would be easier if my diploma matched my other identifcation.

littlemoments324

I'm still on the fence about mine...I really like my last name, but I like FI's too...decisions decisions...

jessica.knight

When I decided to drop my middle name and make my father's last name my new middle name, I thought I was being innovative.  Apparently, it's a Southern tradition.  Who knew?  )

I'm taking my husband's last name to promote cohesion amongst the family we're starting, but I don't want to lose my identity as a member of my family of origin.  And I love my maiden name, and my married name is almost as cool, so I don't feel like I'm losing at all.

And for the record, I love my father.  I'm happy to have found a man as cool as he is.  I'm a blessed woman!

RyansBelovedBride

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_name-change?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:7865e5ca-f727-4649-b41f-f4c643a9d560Post:97347866-23d0-42b6-af9e-c47436100888">Re: Name change??</a>:
[QUOTE]I think I'm going to keep my last name as one of my middle names (you can have 4 names, right?). Totally opposite of LADY, I really miss my dad and would like to keep his last name in some respect. Also, he picked my first and last name (my mom got to pick the boys' names!), so I'd like to basically keep my name, but just add fiance's last name, which I love (although it's hard to pronounce). That was a complicated answer for something relatively simple. lolz
Posted by bridetobe71412[/QUOTE]

This is what I'm doing, making my maiden name a second middle name.

I actually always thought (when I was a kid) that's what everyone did, and I have no reason to want to get rid of my maiden name, but I also want to take his.  My dad also had three daughters and his brother had no children, so our branch of the family has no one to pass it on but us... my younger sister is also engaged and is planning on hyphenating, and her FI is also hypenating so they have the same last name! (I think that's cool).  My older sister dropped our name completely.