For those who are published...are you changing your name? (first post here)

acnahm · December 2010

Hi! I haven't posted here before and I'm not really sure where this would go, but I thought I would try here first. A little background: I'm a PhD student (in biology) and I am getting married one month from today! Yay! I am already a published author in my field. I originally planned to keep my last name for science (publications and such), but change my last name legally. However, I am not sure that this will realistically work. If you are a published author, what are you doing about your name change? Keeping your last name? Changing it entirely? I really appreciate hearing what others in the same situation are doing. TIA!

LauraT25 · December 2010

I decided to change mine. I posted a very similar thread to this maybe a year ago, though, because I was unsure

I decided that I didn't mind changing it because I only have one publication under my current field of study, and the others aren't as relevant. That one publication won't show up in a PubMed search, but it's clearly from the same lab, on the same topic, and I can list all of them (maiden and married) on my resume/CV so it's NBD. Basically, I decided the publications weren't an issue, and made the decision as if I didn't have any. For some people, it matters; it's a personal choice. Whether or not to change your name is a difficult enough decision as it is - I will tell you, many people were surprised that I decided to do it, since many women in science keep their names.

A girl in my lab changed her name legally to Firstname Middlename Maidenname Lastname; kept her middle name, no hyphen. She uses only her husband's last name socially. She publishes under her maiden name. I'm not sure if that's 'legal' as far as journals are concerned, but she hasn't had any issues.

LauraT25 · December 2010

Um holy crap do we have a friend in common on FB? I happen to have that tab open and someone with your last name and first initial (possibly) who goes to a nearby school (that will go unnamed for privacy reasons) just popped up on my 'people you may know'.

Edit: I just realized that you wouldn't know who I am on FB. I'm sending you a private message.

diamondx423 · December 2010

I am 90% sure that I will change my name. When I get married I'll be in my 3rd year of my program and will only have 1 (hopefully 2) first author papers. My thinking behind this is that throughout my career there will be many more publications that the only one with a different name won't make a huge difference. Most of the women in my lab changed their name and use their maiden initial as a middle initial, so instead of Sally Smith they publish under Sally S Jones.

SCBojangles1138 · December 2010

I'm not published yet but I plan on changing my name. LauraT seems to have it all covered so I won't add anymore.

K8NKC · December 2010

I'm also thinking of doing the publication name and social name thing, but that seems confusing. I've actually had this conversation a couple of times with my advisor. lol. One thing he pointed out is how about important your articles are that are published under another name. For instance, I'm in psychology and a this woman never gets credit for a really famous publication because she changed her last name and most people don't get the connection. I haven't decided yet what I want to do because I will have 2 first author pubs and a couple of other articles by the time I'm married. :-/

LauraT25 · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_those-publishedare-changing-name-first-post-here?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:684Discussion:0089cf26-8817-4aa6-9940-82aba67b6d7cPost:59e39e09-ae8c-4f84-b7e3-e1e8a22beb7d">Re: For those who are published...are you changing your name? (first post here)</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm also thinking of doing the publication name and social name thing, but that seems confusing. I've actually had this conversation a couple of times with my advisor. lol. One thing he pointed out is how about important your articles are that are published under another name. For instance, I'm in psychology and a this woman never gets credit for a <strong>really famous publication</strong> because she changed her last name and most people don't get the connection. I haven't decided yet what I want to do because I will have 2 first author pubs and a couple of other articles by the time I'm married. :-/
Posted by K8NKC[/QUOTE]

I think that in this case, I would probably have hyphenated or moved my maiden name to my midlde and published under both (keeping one's name is of course also an option). For me, I didn't think the publications that I have were worth it. My first author publications are from my undergrad, and while I'm proud of them they're not really that awesome, and like I said I can still list them on my CV. It's really a case-by-case situation, and I think it's a great idea to discuss it with your PI and any women investigators in your apartment who can offer personal insight.

alliesono · December 2010

I'm getting married in May and am currently working on my Ph.D. also (in enviro. sci.). I currently have 1 first authored publication, and possibly a second by the time I'm married. I've pretty much decided to add FI's name as my last name, and move my maiden name up as a second middle. I'd like to publish as "First Maiden Married" if that's an option.

I know what you're going through, though. It's not an easy choice and I've gone back and forth quite a bit. For me, it's important that my husband, my future children, and I will all have the same last name.

acnahm · December 2010

Thank you all for the input. I'm starting to think my original idea of keeping my name for science may not be the best way to go (for me personally). Maybe I can just make a signature in my email that has my last name still in it so collaborators know it's me.

BTW Laura, I pm'ed you back

LauraT25 · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_those-publishedare-changing-name-first-post-here?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:684Discussion:0089cf26-8817-4aa6-9940-82aba67b6d7cPost:65b3bfef-90fc-4e0f-aec7-8d1f5711c899">Re: For those who are published...are you changing your name? (first post here)</a>:
[QUOTE]Thank you all for the input. I'm starting to think my original idea of keeping my name for science may not be the best way to go (for me personally). <strong>Maybe I can just make a signature in my email that has my last name still in it so collaborators know it's me.</strong> BTW Laura, I pm'ed you back :)
Posted by acnahm[/QUOTE]

That's what I did, actually. Even though I completely dropped my maiden name legally, my signature says "Laura Maiden Married" just so people don't get confused.

Also, I replied to your PM. I swear, I thought FB was stalking me on the Knot when I saw your name pop up. It was pretty freaky.

NotPersephone · December 2010

I've been wondering about just this issue. Here's the thing, my partner and I have the same first name. Since he has already published with that name (in a closely related field), I think there might be too much confusion if I change mine. That said, I'm a sucker for cute so I _really_ want to change it.

Using all three names all of the time just feels to formal to me.

Angie1313 · December 2010

I've been reading this thread and it has been very helpful! I have been back and forth about whether or not to change my name for quite awhile. I am not published yet, but I do plan on pursuing a graduate degree and I am currently involved in a research project that will likely lead to publication. I have been unsure what to do about the name thing, hearing that there are options is very relieving!

Kristin789 · December 2010

I am a college professor who got married for the first time at 43, so I had a bunch of stuff in my maiden name.

But I still changed my name legally to FIRST MIDDLE MARRIED, because I wanted to keep my middle name and I wanted to take FI's last name.

I use FIRST MARRIED all the time: at work, socially, etc. - EXCEPT for post-weding publications, I use FIRST MAIDEN MARRIED.

For those who are published...are you changing your name? (first post here)

Re: For those who are published...are you changing your name? (first post here)

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