Part of it can be cultural, as evidenced by the tendency of women to take their spouse’s name, while other parts of it might have nothing to do with how you were raised.
This too applies to women who “have children from a previous marriage or have an advanced degree and established career.” They may choose to hyphenate their names.
Other factors of consideration have included concerns that are related to divorce, and women weighing whether it’s worth the hassle of “changing their professional or social media identity.”
Though we’re mostly focusing on the choice to either keep one’s given last name or to take that of one’s spouse, it’s not exactly an either or situation. There are plenty of other ways to approach it than just choosing one of those two options.
Marriage comes with more than just a certificate and tax breaks. Just be sure that whatever you choose, you keep your best interest in mind, be that for your age, your family situation, and what have you.
If you take your husband's last name, if you have kids from a prior marriage or relationship, you might have to think about whether giving them the last name of a stepparent is the best thing for them. This is obviously an additional factor that someone without children won’t have to consider, rendering their situation entirely different from your own.
Whatever you choose be sure to be on the same page with your Spouse.
