Name change

I plan on keeping my middle name and dropping my last name altogether. 4 names has never been something I would do personally and my current last name isn't middle name material lol

I loved my last name and was proud of it, but I dropped it to take my husbands. 4 names is a lot, and as a personal choice I didn't want the hassle. I think it was easier for me because my maiden name was Coulson and my married name is Coleman...so similar lol. However, I wanted to stay traditional and just take my husbands name. I am from a family of all girls, so my last name will not be carried on. But, we like family names so we decided we will likely use a family name for our kids, and that can live on through them in a way.

I don't think having two middle names will really be that big of an inconvenience. It's not like you have to sign it or anything. It's really just personal preference!

I’m also struggling with taking my husband’s last name too! I’ve already decided to take it, as hyphenating it makes my whole last name too long (15 letters!), burn my new name sounds so foreign to me.. I also feel some hardcore mom guilt over it, because my son’s last name is my former name (previously married), and now he’s the only one In our family of five with that last name.. he’s been really great about it, but I still feel like a bad mom for wanting to change my name to my husband’s.. ultimately I decided to change it completely, and drop my previously married/son’s last name.. but it’s a really hard choice!!

If you want to keep it as another middle name, I don't there'd be any problems with it. I think the only thing you have to be conscious about is formal documents - I know someone who did this and the people at the DMV didn't quite understand it. When she got her license updated, the 4 names were too long to put on the license, so the person helping her just truncated her name, which took off her married last name, and thus her ID didn't match with her security card or passport - it was a whole ordeal. And it could have definitely been avoided; just wanted to point out that a few small things could arise.

In most states, to add a second middle name, you'll need a Court Order. If you are just changing your middle name to your maiden name, it should be fine. That's what I did.

I changed my maiden name to my middle name and dropped my middle name. While I do love my middle name and feel attached to it, I felt more attached to my last name. I didn't want 4 names, I read a lot about it and it seems super confusing for filling out forms.

My first marriage million yrs ago I was 18 and did not want to lose my name as I felt that was who I was born as..lol I know... so I just added my husband's name on the end.. it was not hyphenated but kinda like a 2nd middle name... we were married for 25 yrs and I never had a issue I legally used his last name. But my DL and SSCard had all 4 names but on papers like mortgage, car loans or anything I used my first name and his last name.

I can’t part with my lastname and will not be taking my husband’s. If you want to be traditional and appease the masses, change it. If you don’t feel right about it and want to take a stance, don’t change it. It’s only your decision to make. A lastname doesn’t make a family

In Hispanic culture we get both of our parents last name. It just so happens that both of my parent's last name is the same (not related! Lol) so I've been stuck with "Escobar Escobar" needless to say I can't wait to take FH's last name 😅

View Quoted Comment This is hilarious.

I also didn't want to part with either of my names, so I took my maiden name as a second middle name. I now legally have 4 names. It seems fine so far and Social Security didn't give me any trouble at all about it.

Thanks to everyone for responding! I am definitely thinking I'll go with dropping my last name. My mother kept her name due to her job and found it difficult to deal with school and travel when she didn't share our last name. Also my husband said that he'd like me to take his name (though if I had an objection he would be supoortive-and he is being very supportive of whatever choice I make on this), only because he likes the tradition of it. I really appreciate the input! My little sisters both got lovely artistic line drawn Buck heads tattooed on their backs (I am not much for tattoos), because our last name is Buck, so I always have that option or using it as a middle name for my children if I feel at a loss without it.

I did exactly what you’re suggesting and had no issues! It was important to me to take my husband’s name and, like you, I wanted to keep my maiden name as a middle name but didn’t want to drop my given middle name. People warned me about DMV/passport issues but it was totally fine. I don’t see having 4 names as particularly burdensome. My legal documents (passport, license, SS card) list all 4, but most other things (credit cards, bank accounts, etc) end up using just my first middle name, which is fine with me! Then at work, I have the option of using my second middle (maiden) name as well as my new last name, which is helpful for people that knew me before I got married. It’s worked out well for me!

I changed my name and am fully legally the new name, but socially I didn’t totally bail on my maiden. It’s been a nice compromise for me. So for example my name on my gmail account is First Maiden Newlastname

I already have 4 names. It really isn't that big of a deal. Most places that ask for middle initial, I just use my first middle name. Really the only time I ever have to worry about all 4 is on certain legal documents. Otherwise, I wouldn't notice a difference.

Some people get concerned about the initials and monogramming things, I just use 3 initials for that as well. It's all personal choices.

I'm struggling too... When I got married the first time, I dropped my middle name and made my maiden name my middle name. Now I'm getting married again, and my fiance's mother insisted that she and her husband both hyphenate when they got married, so my fiance's last name is already hyphenated. I can't triple hyphenate, but I don't want to have different last name than my daughter, even though I don't have any attachment to my current last name otherwise. But my FH feels weird if I am married to him but have another man's last name, which I understand. We've debated coming up with a new last name altogether, but he says he doesn't want to change his last name. Which is kind of ironic, right? So I don't know what I'll be doing...