Name Changes

When getting married it is assumed that the woman will take her husband's last name.

For a long time, I was adamant about NOT changing my last name after marrying. In fact, I was engaged once before M and this was something the ex and I argued about. There was no way I was changing MY last name. It wasn't even an option. It's been my name my whole life and why should I have to change just because I got married? See, women taking their husbands' last names started back when men owned their wives. It was like transferring ownership from the woman's father to her husband. Since this is no longer the case, I felt the tradition was stupid.

(Side note, I also have a huge problem with being referred to as Mrs. M__ S__ - that's not my name, that's M's name with a Mrs. in front of it! I will make sure I correct anyone who refers to us as Mr. & Mrs. M__ S__ - um, no! I have my own name - it's Christy - thanks.)

I still kind of feel that way, but I have found myself thinking about it more. With less than 2 months until our wedding, I think I have finally decided what I am going to do. While I'm not quite as adamant anymore about not changing my last name... the thing is, I'm proud of my last name. It's been my name for the last 27 years and I don't want to change it now. I've accomplished a lot with it and I'm not really willing to give it up. On the other hand, I find myself actually wanting to take M's last name. I am proud of his last name, too. Having M's last name makes me feel like we are a team. Not that we aren't already a team, because we are, but having the same last name will just seal the deal for me. Also, if we should decide to have kids, it's important to me to have the same last name as my child.

So... there are a few options. Hyphenate? No, thanks. Although, the two last names actually sound pretty good hyphenated, I don't feel like writing all of that out for the rest of my life.

I think what is going to work best for me is to make my current last name my middle name (get rid of my current middle name) and take M's last name... Christy W__ S__. This way, I can have both.

I'm happy with that.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

Only 59 days until the wedding and I still feel like there's so much to do. Invitations went out this morning.