The name game - Part 1

This is going to be the first of a few entries about names.

Yes. Names. Our names. Mine. Yours. People in general.

In the United States, traditonally a woman marries a man she takes on his last name.

Other countries, like India or China, have different traditions when a couple marries.

My one friend took on her husband's last name. Not strange, I know. But she didn't have to change her name. Why? Because her last name was already the same as her husbands! How freaky is that? And NO....they weren't cousins or anything like that!

Then there's my other friend who KEPT her Maiden name. Her husband took her last name. That's right! It happened 12 years ago. The two got married and he took on her Maiden name. The Hubs had a COW when he heard about that one. But still now? I'm sure it's a weird one to hear for most folks.

Me? What name did I take when I got married? I hyphenated. Why? A number of reasons.

For of all, my Maiden name is short. Only 5 letters. And my husband's name is also short. Just 6 letters. If I had a long and complicated Maiden name, I might not of opted for a hyphen. But since it's a short one then it's not an ordeal to link the two names together.

Secondly, I had been working for a bit before I got married. I figured that if I hyphenated my name, then old co-workers and bosses could always locate me.

Another reason is that I came from a family of four daughters. My poor father. And he was the last child in his family. AND the only boy. So he was the last to carry his name. I find it nice to continue carrying his (our) family name. Especially since he and I are so alike on so many levels.

And really. To me, getting married is a joining of two people. So I joined our last names.

But what do people call me?

When people write to only me, they write Grace MaidenName-HubsLastName.

When people write to me and my husband, they either write Mr. and Mrs. HubsLastName or Hubs and Grace HubsLastName. Because we're a couple.

My kids? They've just got my Hubs last name. No reason to hyphenate them. They didn't invent 30+ years with my Maiden name. I did. They can do what they want when they get married.

Now what about you? Did you contemplate hyphenating? Did you keep your maiden name? Or did you take on your spouse's last name as is traditionally done here in the United States?