If I ever decide to marry, I have never even though about changing my name. (You know how girls in like jr. high will write out their name with the last name of the boy they like? Not me, never did that). Here are my personal reasons:
- My biggest reason- I've accomplished a lot under that name, not least of which is earning what I hope is the first in a line of degrees. Awards, having things published, etc.... all as Carrie *********. It's both a personal and professional decision.
- I'm just a natural born feminist I suppose. And not one to follow tradition because it's how things have been done. Getting married is about joining together equally IMO. Not about becoming property and changing who you are. And I'm Carrie *********, not Carrie ####, etc.
As for kids.. well.. I'm not having any (at least not planning them & being very cautious to avoid any little suprises). If I change my mind and decide to have some..I think I would consider adoption first, and older kids whom I would never ask to change their names. But for the sake of argument... I would either give them their father's last name, or hyphenate the two
if they sounded really cool together.
My first name is actually my mothers' maiden name, and my middle name is a family name on that side of the family. My last name is from my dad's side. Although, my first name is spelled differently than it should have been. I thought about changing it, but see my first response above.
Something interesting, my boyfriend's last name is actually his adopted name, not his birth name anyways. He has considered changing it back to its original form, but he's had his current name since age 4 or something. And he's accomplished a lot under that name, so he's never changed it.
I think it's definately an individual decision, but I also see it becoming more common, at least professionally, for women to retain their maiden name. Someone asked about mail.. well, most of our mail is individual anyways. If it's something like an invitiation, they can address it to either or both of us. I wouldn't be offended if someone slipped and used his name, particularly someone who didn't really know us.