Abstract
Using a mixed method approach, this study examines women’s reasons for the traditional practice of marital name changing. We utilize data collected via a questionnaire administered to first-year college students at a southeastern US public university and data gathered from in-depth interviews with recent college graduates. The quantitative results show that the reasons given for marital name changing are closely tied to social norms. The results from the qualitative analyses reveal more specifically how social norms direct the practice of marital name changing. Together the findings show that women’s perceptions of their family’s expectations are a key reason motivating them to practice marital name changing. However, in both samples, respondents express mixed and sometimes inconsistent reasons regarding marital name changing. Respondents emphasize the importance of adhering to the tradition while also reporting that they did not consider marital name changing as an important issue. These findings indicate the multifaceted quality of the issue. Together, the results illustrate how social norms shape people’s personal decision about marital name changing while also showing how the decision made by people shapes society.
Highlights
Names are important to people, and yet adults in the US can legally change a name with relatively little complication
The results revealed that Midwest respondents in 2006 held more traditional attitudes compared to Midwest respondents in 1990, and were more likely to agree that marital name changing indicated a greater commitment to marriage
A content analysis using wedding announcements published in The New York Times in the 1980’s and 1990’s, and in the years 2001-2005 found a nonlinear pattern for the percent of brides choosing to keep their birth name rather than participate in marital name changing (Kopelman et al, 2009). Together these findings suggest that the extent of adherence to a cultural tradition like marital name changing is affected by the place of residence and by social change across time
Summary
Names are important to people, and yet adults in the US can legally change a name with relatively little complication. There are various reasons why someone might want to legally change names and the majority of women do so at marriage by dropping their maiden name and taking their husband’s surname (Emens, 2007; Gooding & Kreider, 2010; Scheuble, Johnson, & Johnson, 2012). Marital name changing is a multifaceted issue. Social norms about marriage are unambiguous in the expectation that women should unite themselves by name with their husband and children. Endorsement of traditional marital name changing is found on the Internet social media site Facebook with postings by engaged women expressing excitement at becoming a Mrs His-Last-Name, on Internet websites such as MissNowMrs.com that sells a namechanging service to newly married women and on various Internet blogs (see e.g., postings on huffingtonpost.com). A preference for married women retaining their maiden name is publicly displayed by politicians (e.g., Sonia Sotomayor, Deborah Wasserman Schultz), hosts of television news shows (e.g., Melissa Harris-Perry, Barbara Walters), actresses (e.g., Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep) and professional athletes
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