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I’ve noticed a lot of talk about names on the boards, and rather than just comment, I thought it was about time I addressed the name issue in a post.
My last name is one of those super complicated Polish names. It’s long, hard to pronounce, even harder to spell, and begins with the letter W. It’s dreadful. I can honestly say that the only reason I ever thought I wanted to get married was to trade up and get a better last name. Women’s lib aside, I want a new last name.
I even have a favorite list:
3. Kennedy.
2. O’Neil, O’Patrick, well anything that starts with the letter O and then an apostrophe or anything Irish.
And my all time favorite:
1. Abbott
Why Abbott?
Because it’s as close to the beginning of the alphabet as you can get. Growing up I was short, and because of my name I was always at the back of the class. I hated it.
I feel like I made a promise to my eight-year-old self to find an Abbott and marry him, and I thought while I was reaching for the stars wishing for an Abbott, I might as well make him a doctor, right?
Wrong. My mister wonderful has one huge glaring problem. His last name begins with a W too!! Yep, that’s right, my initials will stay exactly the same and my eight-year-old self is still sitting at the back of the class cursing me—BIG TIME.
The good news is that it’s shorter, easy to pronounce, and super common. All things that should make me happy. Yet I wasn’t prepared for the side effects of a super common last name. Right now I can Google my name, and I pop up.
But with my new last name, let’s just say I’ll never make the top 10 or 100 list when I Google it. And for some reason this has kinda made me sad. I know I will change my name, but (I can’t believe I am saying this) a part of me is going to miss the individuality of my maiden name. There are less than four months left before I change my name, and I am just now learning to appreciate it!!! Ugg. The irony of life.
So tell me, are you trading up in a last name? Trading down? Or not trading at all?
P.S. - A good friend of mine married a girl with the same last name. Anyone else share the same (or a very similar) name as their spouse or fiance?
I totally understand. I have an uncommon last name that starts with an “M” and I swore I would never take someone’s last name if it meant I had to move back in the alphabet.
I am completely trading up, I love my last name, but it is the end of the alphabet too. I’m marrying an A and his name fits perfectly with mine. My sister and mom like my current last name, but I think they are biased.
we both have super common last names. i’ve always known i was going to change my last name. i guess because i’ve never known anyone who hasn’t. oddly enough, when i was younger i wished the same as you! my last name starts with a “w” as well, and i was always last and i just wanted an “a” last name so badly. it sucked. i didn’t get my “a” (got a “t” instead) but i’m really, really excited to take his name anyway.
I love my current last name but i Love my future initials more. I get to go from BMM to BMW which is awesome in my book.
I’m trading down! My last name is very unusual and starts with a T. My FI’s last name starts with a W and is very very very common. I’m thinking of keeping my own name or at least hyphenating 
Ah. The name game is very difficult for me. I am very attached to my last name. In fact, it served as my only name from 6th grade on (most of my friends still call me by my last name and some people in high school thought that it was my actual first name!). I was almost married once before and I was not going to change my name! Now that I have found the man who’s last name I want (we will have the same 3 initials!) I have yet to actually change it! I keep swearing I will, but it is getting close to a year since we’ve been married and I haven’t yet…
The one comfort I have is knowing that even when my maiden name is not legally mine, I will still always been known by it.
I’ve got the opposite problem… My maiden name is very common and is at the beginning of the alphabet. My new name will be less common, longer and will begin with W also! I started to practice signing it the other day. My FI is very proud
I’m in the back & would go further back with a more common name…haven’t quite come to terms with it yet
My maiden was fine, but I really like the Mr.’s. It’s short, cute, never mispronounced. It has the fun side-effect of sounding Asian, even though it’s Welsch. For the first two years of his job, the Mr. was invited to the diversity retreat, obv just b/c of his last name! He didn’t go and just assumed it was a company-wide invite until I told him otherwise.
I think it’s a wash– his sounds very similar to mine and will go well with my first name, but my initials are changing from TD to TP! At least I won’t be subject to kindergarten teasing (hopefully).
At work I’ll still use my maiden name, but socially I’ll go by Mrs. P.
I’m going from VERY german to EVEN MORE German! haha I’m hyphenating though. I’ve always loved my last name, but when my Dad passed away I just couldn’t bear to part with the name I was given by him, so I’m gonna keep it! 
My last name is long, confusing, and full of letters that are hard to understand over the phone (try making an appointment somewhere and spelling out 13 letters using “s as in sam, s as in sam, e as in elephant, etc”. I usually peter out toward the end and at this point don’t care how anyone spells my last name as long as it’s not being published. However, the unwieldy-ness of my long name has made me strangely protective of it and loathe to change it. Somehow, being the only person in the US with my name makes it feel like a betrayal to change it (none of the other women in my family (who share my last name) feel the same way - they are all taking the short, easy names of their husbands gladly)
AAAAh. Names. I have an unusual first and last name. Mr P’s last name is…Smith!!! Smith?!Honestly, I’d love to keep my name, but I also feel all warm and fuzzy about taking his…
how funny. as an ‘a’ i dreamed of getting married and moving BACK in the alaphabet. i hated sitting up front and by the teacher. ugh.
my future kids will now be sitting somewhere in the middle. score.
I think I might win… my new last name starts with a Z!
My maiden name was ALWAYS pronounced wrong and my married name is even worse. I’ll say my last name and people will repeat it back to me wrong 
But I still love my married last name more!
I went from ‘S’ to a ‘W’… and tripled the number of letters (3 to 9). boo. However, despite the longer name, it’s easier to pronounce! yay!
If I take my FI’s last name (haven’t decided on that one yet) I’ll be switching to a last name that sounds very similar to another popular last name, so I will forever be correcting people - as in, “no, smyth - s-m-Y-t-h”. Not the actual name, but you get the idea.
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Mrs. Peep Toe, San Francisco Age and Occupation: 29, Policy Analyst Fiance's Age and Occupation: 36, Olive Oil Production Manager Engagement Date: December 16, 2007 Wedding Date: May, 2009 Blogging Since: November 26, 2008 Venue: Hotel Vitale About Me: I am a west coast lady who loves the San Francisco Bay Area. I love living with Mr. Peep and our animals: Huck the Dog and Ferris the Cat. I work to save the environment in San Francisco, while Mr. Peep makes ridiculously delicious Olive Oil. On any day you can find me reading the latest book I have gotten my hands on, eating Swedish Fish, and perusing wedding blogs! We are both champagne drinking foodies on a Bud Light budget. We are planning an eco-chic, intimate, and interfaith San Francisco City wedding.
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