Wedding Blog
A couple weeks ago I started talking with a few people about how I’ll change my name after marriage. I know I like how Mr. Blueberry’s last name sounds with my name, but I didn’t want to lose my maiden name completely and don’t really like how all four names (Firstname + Middlename + Maidenname + Hislastname) sound together. Plus, I have never gone by my first name, always by a nickname of my middle name. So I tossed around a few ideas and tried out the various names.
“Hi, I’m Firstname Hislastname!”
“Middlename Maidenname Hislastname. Nice to meet you!”
I even included Mr. Blueberry, and my friends and family:
“This is my wife, Middlename Hislastname.”
“Middlename Hislastname? Yeah she used to be Firstname Maidenname.”
“Firstname Maidenname Hislastname, you’re really cool!”
etc. etc. 
After much thought, I think I’ve decided how I’ll change my name. I’m going to switch the order of my first name and my middle name (so it will become Middlename Firstname), keep my maiden name, and add his last name to the end. So for all practical purposes, I’ll go by “Middlename Hislastname” but my full name will be “Middlename Firstname Maidenname Hislastname.” Never again will doctor’s offices or professors call me by Firstname, and I’ll get to keep it and my maiden name without having to actually go by it.
Plus, Middlename + FirstInitial + Hislastname looks really nice when I sign it.
Are you doing anything complex and/or unusual for your married name?
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Share this post: The Big Name Change
nope, nothing unusal on my part. my friend did something similar. her middle name was her mom’s maiden name so when she got married, she dropped that and her maiden name became her new middle name.
I’m going with all four names, but I have the situation that you do in that I’m called by my middle name. It can be so frustrating to have all of your paperwork in your first name when you don’t really go by that!
You might want to check on the legal issues involved in switching an order of the names, as I’ve heard mention that this might take a court appointment/order vs. just a regular wedding related name change (although that seems really unfair).
i’m not doing anything cool, but i think it would be cool if we changed our last name to xanga. 
I suggested keeping my maiden name and my FI wrinkled his nose and said “why?” I’ll probably just take his name. My initials will go from ARM (a grade school nickname) to ARH (which is way cooler if I can get an eye patch and a hook). My FI’s initials are RAH, so we’ll be all sorts of As, Rs and Hs. I’m rambling…. sorry.
I think I’m switching to Firstname Maidenname Hislastname and dropping my middlename, however I may use Firstname Maidenname professionally.
no fusses for me - i’m not changing my name. if you hyphenate yourlast-hislast, then legally i think you can keep most of your accounts as yourlast. only your passport, DL and insurances would have to change. you can keep your credit cards, etc as yourlast.
I have thought about hyphenating or keeping my last name, but I do have a brother so my maiden name will technically “continue on.” I like how my name is currently alliterated (English teach in me, I guess)!
I am actually really exciting for my last name change. My initials are KGK and most people don’t know the middle initial so I get a lot of “Does your middle name start with a K?!? Then your initials would be KKK!” How horrible is that!?!?
My maiden name is also a doozy for spelling. New last name will not be so difficult.
i’m not changing my name, and fi wishes i would. he asked me to consider dropping my middle name and adding my maiden name, but i am not budging.
as for the future kids, i said one could have his last name and the other could have my last name! (fi disagrees.)
I have a hyphenated last name…and a long one at that! My last name is 20 letters long. (My parents had me before they marriage.) I’m marrying a _ _ _ so I am replacing my 21 letters with his 3. (I told him that i am marrying him for his last name. If he’s not nice, i might just find myself a cute _ _ guy. jk =D)
My whole name is long. First = 10. Middle = 5. Last = 20. My plan is to shorten my first name and make it a middle name and tack on his last name without hyphenating…so that would make my name First = 6, 1st Middle = 4, 2nd Middle = 5, Maiden Name = 20, Last = 3. Damn thats long…oh wells.
When i sign, it’s going to be First = 5, Last = 3. Perfect!
I also go by my middle name. When I married my first husband I changed my name to Middlename Maidenname Hislastname. I didn’t want to lose my maidenname identity. It was all fine until we went through the divorce and then I wanted to dump his last name. So reverting back to Firstname Middlename Maidenname was easy as far as DL & SS - for creditors it was a pain in the you know what. Some of them (9 years later) still haven’t gotten it straightened out. I have one that is Middlename Hislastname Maidenname! I’ve tried so many times to get it straightened out and they just don’t get it!!!
YAY! You decided! So glad to hear that you decided on signing MiddleName FirstInitial MarriedName !!! ^_______^
I would second looking into the laws in your state. I know in NYC you have limited options on your marriage license of what to change your last name to and I don’t believe you can do anything to your first name. It’s not very hard to change your name legally through a court order but it’s definitely a few more steps.
Any suggestions for a friend of mine? She definitely wants to take her FI’s name, but doesn’t want to give up her maiden name…she’s already ruled out Firstname (erase Middlename) Maidenname Hislastname, because she likes her middle name, too. And hyphenated…well…it would be Bone-Husband. NOT kidding. Suggestions?
Totally off topic, but the last post made me think of it. There’s a prof on campus whose hyphenated last name is Aiken- Bohner, which is Turkish and German (pronounced as you could guess… achin’ boner). Silly stuff. Sorry. It’s been a long day.
I’m going with Firstname MiddleName HisLast MyLast.
Everything professionally and financially that has FirstName LastName won’t change. Passports, SS, DL, and insurance will all have to change, but those offices will have to be updated with new info, anyway.
I’ve got a bit of a predicament that maybe somebody can help me with–I’m a physician. For professional continuity and personal reasons, I want to be known as Dr. Mylastname, and keep that after I marry. An option would be hyphenating Mylastname-Hislastname, but our last names are only one letter different & sound the same! ex: Smith-Smithe. But if I just kept mine, I think it would be super confusing for creditors, our future kids, our friends….
I’ve got a bit of a predicament that maybe somebody can help me with–I’m a physician. For professional continuity and personal reasons, I want to be known as Dr. Mylastname, and keep that after I marry. An option would be hyphenating Mylastname-Hislastname, but our last names are only one letter different & sound the same! ex: Smith-Smithe. But if I just kept mine, I think it would be super confusing for creditors, our future kids, our friends….
I’m not doing anything unusual; I will be taking my FI’s last name, replacing my current last name. However, I do have a friend that did something interesting when she got married a few months ago. She kept her last name, and he took hers. He had a last name that always got him made fun of when he was younger, and he didn’t want to do that to his children, so he chose to take her name instead.
I’m going with My Firstname, Middlename, Hislastname, because I love my middle name to much to drop it and I love that my initials will be ALL… lol…
We’re both doing the 4 names thingie: Firstname Middlename Herlast Hislast. No freaking hyphens. The only thing is he goes by his middle so I’m afraid it’ll cause problems when we have no idea who Firstname Herlast is, already caused problems in a ER due to pronunciation- they called for Firstname Heeeeeslistnumb like 7 times before we realized.
i’m def taking hislastname. mine is currently 11 letters and hard to pronounce. his is 5 letters and a normal everyday word. (ei:stone)
my current initials are NAS. i used to joke that i would marry someone whose last name stated with an A so i could hyphenate my last name and have my initials be NASA.
I’m keeping my last name just because I’ve had it for 25 years and see no real reason to change. He feels the same way about his last name, so he’s keeping his as well.
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Mrs. Blueberry, Kansas City
Age and Occupation in 06: 21, Full-time Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Full-time Student
Engagement Date: September 10, 2005
Wedding Date: May 25, 2007
Venue: Wynbrick Center - a historic mansion in my hometown.
About Me: We're having an intimate, 125-ish person wedding with a full-blown dessert reception. When I'm not obsessing over wedding stuff or studying for my BA in English, I'm usually playing with our two kitty cats, blogging, doing crafty things, or hanging out with Mr. Blueberry!
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