Originally Posted by xepherys

Hmmm... I'm very pleased that my wife took my name. Her mother never took her father's name, but rather kept her maiden name. Personally, I don't think it's a bad thing either way. In my own marriage, I would be mildly upset if my wife had not taken my name. I guess my reasons stem around tradition (not that I'm a huge traditionalist), social brainwashing (it's just how things are done, right?) and personal preference.

If you do NOT have the same last name, then what happens if you have a child? Giving the child the father's last name is traditional for most cultures throughout history, but if the wife kept her name so as to not "end the line" of her family, that would be counter-productive. If the child takes the wife's name, then there are other social issues that come up if it's found out. Especially as a younger child in primary school, anything that makes you different gets you ostrocized. If you hyphenate the name things can get odd as well, besides the name just being too damned long (unless the couples names are short).

I think that dumping both names and creating something new is interesting, but more of a fad than anything else. It really can be quit offensive to both extended familes, and the family name is sure to cease if the man is the last remaining son in the family (as would have been my case).

On a psuedo-note, my son has my ex's last name as we never got married. This was a point of some contention as well, but I came to be comfortable with her decision and am pleased that after she got married, our son kept her maiden family name. It's maybe unusual, but I'm glad it worked out that way.