2 middle names or 2 last names

@Constance so legally your maiden name is your middle name but you do the "usage method" and use it as 2 last names? I am worried about all the paper work of two last names not working or fitting. But each last name is only 6 characters.

Of the two options I would go with 2 middle names. Seems much simpler in the long run.

I got married a month ago and still trying to decide what to do about the names. I want to keep my maiden name but also want the married name. I'm leaning towards no hyphen but not sure if maiden name should be middle or last with the new name(?) CAN ANYONE COMMENT ON WHAT IS EASIEST WITH (1) COMPATIBILITY OF PRE-MARRIAGE PASSPORT AND (2) BOOKING PLANE TICKETS? There will be 12 characters total of the two last names if I do it that way...

I'm in the same boat!

I got married over a year ago and haven't changed my name. I don't want to get rid of my middle name because it was after my grandmother, who I'm very close to. And I don't want to get rid of my maiden name because it's VERY unique and I like that connection to my dad. Plus I'm known professionally by that name. Honestly, I didn't really want to change my last name at all at first but I'm already going by First Maiden Married in a lot of places. It would be nice to have an official name that matches what I go by, but the main reason is because we are thinking of having kids soon. I want both of us to have the same last name as our kids. I think this will simplify traveling, doctors appointments, checking them out from school, etc. since there won't be any question as to if we are their parents.

I originally didn't care if my maiden became a second middle name or if I ended up with 2 last names. My family is hispanic so having 2 last names is pretty common. I think there's pro's and con's of both but I still haven't decided.

Having 2 middle names is probably easiest in the long run since it's always optional to put your middle name on things. This was my original plan, but the problem is it's not an approved name change from marriage. The options are in Michigan are - replace your middle name and take your husband's last name, add your husband's last name to yours (some states require a hyphen), or replace your last name with your husband's. If you want to do anything different you need to get a court order. It's probably not that hard to get court order but any added hassle to the already long process of changing your name has been a major deterrent for me. If I'm going to do that I want to be sure it's what I want to do.

Having 2 last names shouldn't cause any problems changing it with just your marriage certificate. Some states require you have a hyphen but most don't - and social security doesn't. I don't really see an issue with this as I will probably still just go by First Married eventually. The only thing is that you HAVE to use both on anything legal. Probably not a big deal. The only things I think might be a problem are online forms if your names are too long and people wondering which name they should use or if they should use both. I just want them to use one or the other, not both. I probably eventually will just go by First Married. It sounds like people haven't had a problem with this so that's good to know!

It shouldn't be a problem either way for plane tickets, etc. Your ID just needs to match the ticket. As far as the passport question - you will still be able to use your passport in your maiden name but you should change it to match all your names at some point. I have heard from people that they waited to change their passport and had no issue. In fact, I travel about every other month for work (this makes it hard to change my name since at any given point I have some already booked plane tickets in my maiden name) - I am planning to change my name and use my passport which has my maiden name to travel until I can get everything changed. I'll take my marriage certificate along just in case and will probably wait until everything matches until I travel outside of the country.

Anyway, it was nice to hear about what people did! I've been thinking about this a lot.

I am deciding to possible keep my last name. I have no decided on what I want to do, and so I told my fiancé I would need time to think about what I want to do after the wedding. My fiancé understood and is giving me as much time as I want to decide. You don't have to decide asap. Take some time and think about what you want to do.