The Name Game
I've been thinking a lot about the issue of changing my last name after we're married. I don't know why, but the idea of losing my last name makes me very sad! Maybe it's because I always imagined I would be in a graduate program and be published under my maiden name, so I would keep it for that reason. While I have left the field I was in, I do have my name on a couple of presentations, and hopefully after this summer on at least one article. If I change my last name, no one would associate me with that work. Which doesn't matter a whole lots, since I don't plan on continuing to do research in that field, but still! So there's this huge part of me that wants to keep my maiden name; for those reasons and because it's ME! I love the fact that I have a huge family and sometimes people will recognize me as a relative of such-and-such.
On the other hand, I want to have the same last name as my kids. And I don't particularly want to hyphenate their last names, that seems like pain. That's the same reason I don't really want to hyphenate my own name. But I don't want my husband and kids to all have one last name and I have another one; it will seem like I'm the stepmom. I've seen some couples online who will give every other child a different last name, or boys get one and girls get the other. That seems kind of silly too...I would like all my kids to have the same last name.
I don't know what the solution is. I've thought maybe about just adding his last name to the end of mine, so it would be FirstName MiddleName MaidenName MarriedName. Then I could be like Hilary Rodham Clinton or something when I sign my name. That seems kind of like a pain as well. Who knows....it's just something I've been thinking a lot about lately.
On the other hand, I want to have the same last name as my kids. And I don't particularly want to hyphenate their last names, that seems like pain. That's the same reason I don't really want to hyphenate my own name. But I don't want my husband and kids to all have one last name and I have another one; it will seem like I'm the stepmom. I've seen some couples online who will give every other child a different last name, or boys get one and girls get the other. That seems kind of silly too...I would like all my kids to have the same last name.
I don't know what the solution is. I've thought maybe about just adding his last name to the end of mine, so it would be FirstName MiddleName MaidenName MarriedName. Then I could be like Hilary Rodham Clinton or something when I sign my name. That seems kind of like a pain as well. Who knows....it's just something I've been thinking a lot about lately.