8 Questions to Ask Yourself If You're Thinking of Changing Your Last Name after Marriage

Amal Alamuddin, an accomplished and internationally-known lawyer, made headlines this week when she changed her name to Amal Clooney after marrying a certain George. Some are criticizing her decision, while many others are defending the now-Mrs. Clooney's choice. We believe that whatever you are thinking of doing, it's a personal decision, and we know it's not something that most women take lightly. Here are 8 Questions to Ask Yourself If You're Thinking of Changing Your Last Name after Marriage. Photo by Wedding Photography Can't decide what to do? Here are eight questions that might help you figure it out. 1. Do you WANT to change your name? It's an obvious question, but an important one. Not every woman does and that's OK. Other women are geeked about it; that's OK too. 2. How do you and your partner each feel about your given names? Is one name long and hard to spell or pronounce? Is one a painful reminder of estranged family? Is your last name straight-up awesome? (The Lover.ly team is in agreement that if your last name is Holiday, Fox, or Jett, it's way too cool to change.) These types of things might mean one of you wants to change your name more than the other. 3. How do you and your partner feel about name changes? Some men feel strongly that all women should take men's names after (hetero) marriage. If your partner feels that way, what is his reason? (Fact: keeping your last name after marriage does not mean you love your partner any less!) Is he open to other opinions on the matter? Would he hyphenate his last name or take yours? 4. Will it have a negative impact on your career? If you're still establishing yourself or you haven't done any major work under your birth name, it may have no impact. On the other hand, if you're a published author or you earned your PhD with that name, you may not want to change it. 5. How will it affect your online presence? Seriously! If your last name is in your blog's URL, your email account, and your Instagram handle, you may not be so keen to change it. 6. Are you the last in your family able to carry on your surname? If there are no other children in your family and you're the last in line, it may be important to you and your parents to continue your family's name in this way. 7. How do you feel about the historical context of women changing their names after marriage? The icky truth behind this tradition is that women were considered property, so the name was changed to reflect their new "owners." How much that bothers you will likely influence your choice. 8. If you plan to have children, what last name do you want them to have? (Or if you already have children, how will changing your name affect them?) Many couples want to share a name with their children some day. That said, it doesn't have to be the husband's last name—having everyone use a hyphenated name, or giving the children the wife's last name is a possibility too. Consider what you and your partner are most comfortable with. If you do decide to change your last name, we recommend using a service like Hitch Switch to make the process much faster and easier! And if you don't want to change your last name, keep on rocking it with pride! There really is no wrong decision.