No, the vast majority of people who change their last name to their partners’ drop their middle name and replace it with their maiden last name. That’s what my wife did, as well as 95% of the people I know who have done this. This is totally average and not actually the thing you’re trying to make it out to be.
Not trying to be weird, but to understand - roughly what age range and location are you talking about?
I’m a divorced 52yo woman living in the Chicago suburbs and this is news to me.
I’ve never heard of it before either. It doesn’t seem weird to me. Just, the assertion that it’s overwhelmingly common does not sound right.
My frame of reference is 30-45 year olds in Texas, but also everyone’s parents who are 70+ now. What do people do in Chicago?
It varies, but when I was younger I saw more women keeping their married names if they had very young children, but mostly just returning to their maiden names. Over the years I’ve noticed less women changing their names when they get married, or instead hyphenating their married name. But this is just observations from one socioeconomic viewpoint, so I can’t make sweeping statements about the majority.
It’s an old-fashioned thing to do. When my cousin got married, my aunt gave her a lot of shit for not doing it, so when I got married, I did it, but I don’t know many people my age who have. I’m 39, also born and raised in Chicago (where my aunt and cousin still live), but I’m in California now. My family also has a bit of money (not a ton, but they’ve always had a decent living) and “family name” type pride, so I’m not sure if that’s a factor.
