Women’s Marital Surname Change by Bride’s Age and Jurisdiction of Residence: A Replication

Melanie Maceacheron

doi:10.1080/00277738.2020.1751442

Abstract

Hyphenating or keeping premarital surname for all U.S. destination brides marrying in Hawai’i in 2010 was highly, positively correlated with a state-level women’s income measure (r = .78, p < .000) and the analogous statistic for men (r = .64, p < .000), by bride’s state of residence. The women’s measure, only, remained significant when both predictors were used, together, to predict retention/hyphenation (i.e., under regression of both predictors). The interaction of state Gini coefficient and the women’s income measure was positively predictive in a regression including the interaction components as predictors (adjusted-R2 = .66). None of several other predictors suggested by previous research or related to Gini index or income, testable using available, state-level data, were predictive (under regression) alongside the women’s income measure. The older the bride, from any jurisdiction, the more likely she is to hyphenate or keep her surname (χ2 for linear trend = 1754.65, p < .000). These analyses comprise a nearly direct replication of previous work, adding novel analyses. Taken together, the original and replicated study may show evidence consistent with a general practice of women taking into account local economic factors, in marital surname decision-making.

Highlights

Hawai’i, uniquely among U.S states, requires that brides record whether they will retain their premarital surnames, change to those of their grooms, or hyphenate the two names (Cherlin 1978)
It seems implausible that thousands of brides looked up their state women’s full-time/salaried median income, and household-to-household income inequality, and made a surnaming decision influenced by these
The within findings concerning world-wide data, nearly directly replicated, are consistent with a general decision-making process in which brides with greater lifetime horizon more often take husbands’ surnames

Summary

Introduction

Hawai’i, uniquely among U.S states, requires that brides record whether they will retain their premarital surnames, change to those of their grooms, or hyphenate the two names (Cherlin 1978). Hawai’i in 1978 recorded their intention to either retain or hyphenate their last names (Cherlin 1978). In 2006, it was 16.7% with 11.7% retaining and 5.1% hyphenating their surnames (MacEacheron 2011). Since bride age and jurisdiction of residence (e.g., state) are recorded in marriage registration documents, a unique research opportunity is afforded. Together, these data allow for testing hypotheses concerning women’s marital surname choice in relationship with their age or state of residence.

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion