The politics of marital name change

Abstract

Each year, millions of women face the decision whether or not to change their names after marriage. One study found that region, gender role traditionalism, career orientation, and educational attainment predicted name changes (Johnson and Scheuble, 1995). Another line of research discovered that women who changed their names were perceived as less ambitious and less competent, but more caring than women who did not change their name (Noordewier et al., 2010). Despite the prevalence and importance of this decision, we know very little about marital name change among political leaders. In this study, we take a preliminary look at marital name change in the political arena by focusing on name changing among women serving in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. We find that half of female legislators keep their name after marriage, and that Democrats, racial minorities, legislators who come from political families, legislators who were married later in life, and legislators who were first elected to office at a younger age are more likely to keep their names.