Changing Last Name?

View Quoted Comment I couldn’t agree more with this!!!! I wish I could love a message on here!

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There's definitely no time limit. I know people who didn't change their name for years! And only did so after they had kids.

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Sure. your discussion is helping some of us think these things through before the marriage.

View Quoted Comment Oh perfect. Because I don’t think I’ll get around to it until next month or even October.

View Quoted Comment I’m so glad I can be helpful!

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Did you fill in any new name to take on after marrying? Our forms in California have this but a few restrictions on the name changes. (I meant to edit this earlier so you wouldn't have to respond to extra posts )

View Quoted Comment I haven’t. I didn’t even know I needed to. It was something I’d plan to look into after. We only signed the marriage license.

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It may not have even been included in many marriage license forms. I just looked at our state because of these discussions. I think over here we would have to go through a different process if going with a name we did not have on the form. The state probably likes have the information all on one form, if possible. But it is more convenient for us to just have a separate name change application to defer the choices until later. For those doing a quick wedding, it would be best to see the forms beforehand. lol.

View Quoted Comment Lol I understand. I’ll look into it tomorrow because Im off tomorrow. So it’ll give me some time to see what forms I have to fill out.

I want to change my last name because it will make me feel closer to my future husband. I feel like I am becoming a part of him. I also feel like its a new beginning and I want people to know that I am married to him straight away when I introduce myself. Everyone is different. My mother didn't take her husbands last name because she was already known by her maiden name at work and had a lot of clients. Its everyone's decision! Whatever you feel most comfortable with, you should do!

I changed my name completely! It’s a new me ! A time for a change!

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much Scarlett! I appreciate your insight!

View Quoted Comment I 100% understand that. I love it!

I hyphenated my last name and my husband changed his name to match. His last name was already hyphenated so he dropped the second half and added my maiden name instead. I wanted the two of us to share a last name but he thought I should keep mine (he is hispanic and that is what he is used to). He offered to take my name but left the final choice up to me.



Yes, it is very long to write out. Yes, you also have to give two names to the pharmacist to find your prescription because someone filed it wrong. It is also a pain in the butt with official documents sometimes. Is it still worth it? To me, it is!

View Quoted Comment Thank you for this Grace! I am highly considering hyphenating it.

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The instructions on the marriage license spoke about that option for last names where part of one person's name can be combined with part of the other person's last name. So I figure the removal of a hyphenated section is what they meant. The other option would be if Jim Fooster married Jill Ballinger, they could have the last name of Foosball.

The other option possible was to move a last name as part of the middle name.

Overall the goal on this one was to keep the first name as is and keep some semblance of the last name intact.

Sorry. I forgot to answer the original question...

I will take on my fiance's last name. We felt it would work out best. It seems such a surrealistic change. It just will make us so much more like a new family, a new start. So I am excited about it. I think I'll being using my last name as my middle. But that's a year away.

View Quoted Comment That’s interesting because I had no idea that was possible. It’s almost like creating your own last name for that matter. Very interesting and insightful.

View Quoted Comment I think one of my coworkers actually did this as well. Her middle name is her last name and her new last name is her husbands last name. I could also do that as well. I don’t like my middle name as it is.

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A related option is combining two names without a hyphen.

Of course people can change their names at any time, it just sometimes is easier, quicker and cheaper when following some of the options. I was just trying the Clark County Nevada application. They provide various combinations of names, both middle and last, for the newlyweds. So you add the other's middle name into your middle name or add variations of last names and middle names. It is pretty crazy.

sorry. forgot the link: Clark County Marriage License Application (clarkcountynv.gov)