Belated Congratulations, Soror AKAtude!!
My mother and my aunts, all hyphenated their names, when they got married, but I see three new trends emerging:
1. Not using the hyphen, and just adding it on. For example, Mary Smith Jones.
2. Being "romantic" and just taking his name.
3. HIM adding YOUR last name!! Example, John Smith Jones.
I am not engaged yet, however, I'm starting to like the tradition of taking his last name. When I was younger,I couldn't see myself not having my last name when I got married.
My last name has a lot of history and culture behind it (it's haitian), and I don't want my kids not knowing where they came from. So, my boyfriend and I agreed that our childrens' middle name would be my last name. That works great, because I'll ALWAYS have my last name (in the philosophical sense). Even when I'm married, I'll still be me....
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"I am not yet the author of my life; I am still it's unenlightened protagonist"
---Unknown
[This message has been edited by jali0004 (edited May 08, 2001).]