Hyphen or Changing Last Name?

I'm stuck on this too lol. My full name (middle names included) if hyphenated would be 31 letters. Without middles it will be 22. My fiance actually wants to hyphenate his name as well because he wants us to match or take mine as he doesn't like his biological fathers last name. I don't know what we should do, it's a tough decision.

View Quoted Comment I too hate my fiances last name so I'm hesitant. His last name is Pickle 😂

I’m not changing my name at all and I highly recommend it. So easy because I don’t need to change any identification and I’ll be passing my name down for my lineage. I have no brothers, so I feel proud to do it. My FH gave me his blessing and I only care about his opinion on the subject and no one else’s.

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In my first marriage my exhusband and I had tried to do that, and were told we could not.

View Quoted Comment We have to get a court order. It’s possible, just a lengthy and expensive process.

I have decided to hyphenate my last name. I love my current last name and I want to keep it. My new last name will be 15 letters plus the hyphen but honestly I don't mind because the two last names actually sound great together.

Thank you for asking this question. I, too, am wondering the same thing for myself. It's nice to be able to read what others chose for themselves.

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Absolutely! I was really struggling with what I was going to do. I decided to make it some what easier on myself and choose to take his name without the hyphen. I've heard how hyphens can cause complications and didnt want to struggle with that. And unfortunately, my state does not allow me to change my middle name, like I really wanted to, or allow me to have two last names without the hyphen.

It is totally a personal decision but speaking as someone who has a hyphenated name it’s such a pain. You would think that in 2019 technology would figure out how to include hyphen into things. Some of my credit cards have the hyphen while others do not. Some airlines accept the hyphen and others don’t so sometimes at the airport people are confused because my license and passport have the hyphen but the ticket doesn’t. Don’t even get me on filing things. Sometimes things are filed based on the first letter of the first part of the hyphen sometimes by the first letter of the 2nd part . A lot of times one of the last names of my hyphen will get dropped so it’s always fun to see which one someone picks. So yes I understand wanting to have both parts of your identity your new name as well as your maiden name but the hyphen can be a pain. I would suggest 1) make your maiden name your middle name if you aren’t super attached to the middle name or 2) mashing the two names together and just forgo the hyphen and make it 1 word

View Quoted Comment That is awesome, my husband wasn't cool with it. I love that idea

I changed mine because I wanted to. Hyphenating was out of the question as his last name is outrageously long and full of extra letters, and mine wasn’t exactly short either, so, not even a consideration for me, haha.

This has been a tough decision for me too, but ultimately I have decided to change my name! 1. want to have the same last name as my children & 2. Even though I am so proud of my current last name, I am all about tradition and I want to embrace that we are officially a family by sharing that.

Or don’t change at all many options

I'm hyphenating my last name since I am the last in my family line with the name. Plus both our names are only 4 letters so it wont be long hyphenated.

I think I'm going to hyphenate mine. I like my last name and want to keep it as part of my legal name. In total it'll be 10 letters and I feel like my signature will end up being my first name followed by the first letter of both last names. I also feel like it's unique - you don't see many hyphenated last names these days.

I'm 44 as a first time bride and have used my maiden name throughout my career but I'm looking forward to changing my name to match FH and his sons. I am moving my maiden name to my middle name so that people can still find me or identify me.

I will be hyphenating. My fh is not Hispanic and I consider my Hispanic last name a part of my heritage. My fh actually has two last names due to being adopted I will Be taking his second last name.

I'm taking his last name, but keeping my maiden name as an additional middle name. I'm an only child, so I do want to carry on my maiden name, even if its just with me. Education wise, I will have bachelors & masters degrees with my maiden name (completed before wedding), but will also still have my maiden name on my doctorate degree in the future, along with my FH's last name (completed after wedding). Also, I want to have the same last name as our future children.

I plan on taking FH's last name. Combined it would be eleven letter and I don't want to hyphenate Battle and Roach lol.

Well, I have had my name for 52 years even through my other marriages because it was easier to keep it. My FH asked me if I was going to keep it or change it but I told him that I am going to officially change it. He was really happy. I have to admit, I'm getting kind of nervous now. But I know that I will be fine. My problem is going to be having to change everything to my new last name. Bills, credit cards, Drivers License, etc. It seems like it would be easier to just leave it as it is. OMG! Now I'm panicking!!! LOL