While there are various reasons why people may feel the need to change their last name to match their significant other’s, such as being motivated by cultural and religious views, we wanted to provide you with seven reasons why you don’t need to change your last name.
1. You love your name: Maybe you have a deep attachment to your full name. Maybe it reminds you of someone or something special. Or maybe you have grown so much into your full name that, without it, you wouldn’t feel like yourself. Whatever the case may be, if you truly and deeply love your full name and it brings you happiness, consider keeping it. After all, it’s all yours.
2. Paperwork is a nightmare: While there are definitely people that don’t mind going through the trouble (kudos to them tbh) of changing their last name in the various forms, accounts, etc., that comprise their lives, that doesn’t mean that you want to go through it. If this is less complicated for you then all the power to you, after all, if it ain’t broke (insert shrug here).
3. Business attachment: In this episode of “things that just make sense”, it’s not unheard of to attach your full name to a business (ex. Lily Guillen Photo). If this is the case, then changing your last name may be much more complicated than it is for other people. You might need to rebrand. Or you could lose clientele because you no longer appear under your previous search. Or maybe the name for your business just doesn’t feel/sound right anymore. Changing your name could be a risk for your business so who could blame you if you wanted to keep it the same?
4. Making a statement: Maybe there’s a “rebellious” nature in you and you feel that changing your last name is a sign of conformity. Not just because most people automatically assume that you will take your partner’s name, but because you may have strong feelings about being independent, and taking someone else’s name (even if your partner’s) just isn’t for you.
5. Bad Combo: Remember how in The Wedding Singer Julia, the female lead, was about to marry that awful guy that had the last name Gulia? So Julia’s new name would be Julia Gulia? Well, it’s like that. Not to say that it might help you realize that you are no longer in love with your significant other because they are a d*ck (like in the movie), but a relationship based on mutual respect is more than capable of compromising certain beliefs if you simply don’t like how your new name sounds. After all, it is you that will have to live with it for the rest of your life so you have every right to have a say on what it should be.
6. “I just never got around to it, okay?”- Esqueleto (Nacho Libre): Listen, adulting is hard and sometimes you just don’t have the time to do everything. That’s okay, no judgment here.
7. You don’t want to: And the important part to understand about this whole blog post is that… you don’t have to if you simply don’t want to. You do you boo!
Which one of these resonated the most with you? Let us know in the comments!
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