Changing Names - another rant :)

When I got married I kept my maiden name. My reasons for doing so are personal but for completeness of blog entry I shall list them here.....

1. I like my maiden name. This is not to say that I DISLIKE my husband's last name... simply stating that I like my current last name.
2. I received my education in my maiden name and therefore all diplomas, certificates, transcripts, etc are in my maiden name.
3. When I got married I had been an employed professional (since I got my bachelor's degree) for about 7 years and had been known as my maiden name in that capacity. So for professional (networking) reasons I wanted to keep my maiden name.
4. I have worked hard and advertised quite heavily as Mercedes' breeder/owner/handler in my maiden name.
5. I saw what a co-worker/friend went through a couple of years ago when she divorced and had to change her name on all official documents and even with the phone company, bank, etc. It was a huge struggle for her that took, in some cases, months to complete. Who needs the unnecessary headache?

Any one of the above reasons is, to me, strong enough to make the case for not changing my name but when all 5 were combined the decision was a very easy one and I opted to keep my maiden name. All 5 arguements basically come down to professional & paperwork issues. So the implication from some that I am either A. not really married or B. married but not committed to my husband because I didn't change my name is both crazy and highly offensive!

Just because I chose to keep my maiden name does not in any way mean that I do not love my husband. It is a personal choice and one which no one should judge. I actually had one in-law say that when I switched jobs (which I did about 5 months after I got married) that I could change my name then. This woman clearly had no concept of being a professional working woman as now I had even MORE reason to hang on to my maiden name as networking with old co-workers would be even more complicated if I changed my name.

Now, having said all this, I realize that many of the judgements and questions have come because of living in Southern Alberta. Although not unheard of for a woman to keep her maiden name when getting married I think it is still very uncommon and certainly much more uncommon than in larger cities. I remember a co-worker in Calgary got married a few years ago and his wife kept her maiden name.... no one seemed to bat an eye at her decision at all. I guess that's why it came as such a surprise when so many people questioned my decision and passed judgements based on it.