This article originally appeared on MeritalBliss.com
Unlike most married ladies, especially the ones where I come from (Staten Island, NY), I didn't change my last name when I married my husband Paul. And just as being childhood sweethearts and an interfaith couple has caused confusion among traditionalists -- and even forward-thinking folks who don't realize their comments and questions can offend -- so has this. Learn from those people's mistakes and never utter these words to women still proudly sporting their maiden names.
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But then you won't be connected to your children.
Anything that lives inside me for nine months, whether or not we share a last name, is pretty damn connected to me for life. This also presumes that my children will have only Paul's last name, which might not even be the case.
Then you won't be a united family.
Paul and I have this crazy plan to live in the same home as each other and our kids. We'll eat dinner together, go on vacation together, and help each other when we need it. I have plenty of friends who share a last name with their fathers, men they resent for leaving their families. I have a feeling we'll be more united than them.
That'll be confusing for your kids.
Mommies and Daddies have lots of differences. Paul grows hair on his face; I do not (usually). I have boobs (sort of); Paul does not (not yet at least). Paul's name is Paul, and my name is Meredith. So I think our children will be able to process that Paul's and my last names differ too.
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That's disrespectful to your husband.
So is it disrespectful that he's not taking my last name? Why isn't it disrespectful to my father if I change it? This logic is poop.
A girlfriend who wouldn't take my last name would be a deal-breaker for me.
A friend of a friend said this to me. I thought when you're truly, completely in love with someone, her name shouldn't be the reason you don't propose marriage.
Oh, you're such a career woman.
Sad, but true, this was also said to me. I'm as much a career woman as Paul is a career man, except nobody would ever call him a career man for having a job he enjoys. And while my byline, the name that's associated with every article I've ever written for magazines and websites, is partly why I kept the name Meredith Bodgas, it's not even a big part. The fact is at last count, there were fewer than a dozen people with the last name Bodgas on this planet (maybe there are more on Mars). And because so many of the people with that last name were slaughtered in the Holocaust, I'm hoping to help this name survive as long as I can, which is ironic because I have a notebook from seventh grade filled with scrawls of my first name with Paul's last name. Then again, that was before I became a "career woman."
Bottom line: Everyone has their own reasons for changing or keeping their original surnames, and to judge them for or make assumptions about a choice that has no bearing on your day-to-day is pretty pointless.
What's the most obnoxious remark you've heard someone make about a married woman who didn't change her last name? Why did you keep or change your last name?
Follow Meredith on Twitter @mereditor.
Follow Meredith Bodgas on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mereditor
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Now I on the other hand, would not get serious with a woman who is do not wish to take my name. I will respect her feelings and desires, but I will also respect mine as well.
The sharing of the last name have a spiritual meaning. It shows oneness on a level that goes beyond what this world sees. At least that is how I see it.
I'd say that works :)
I'll give her credit though. At least she has a husband and not a "baby daddy."
He respects me and our relationship doesn't depend on what collection of letters the state prints on my drivers license.
The women want all the perks associated with being a woman. But asking her to take your last name is just too much to ask. If you truly are concerned with these societal memes as you call them, then how about you start lending a hand with taking out the garbage? How about you stop requesting gifts on Valentines Day, Wedding Anniversaries and while we're at it, why ask for a wedding or engagement ring at all? These are all society-based practices that are archaic and do nothing to prove ones real love.
The truth is that keeping your maiden name is not about being independent. It's called being selfish and self-centered. You could do one simple act of love by changing your name to your husbands to make him feel connected to you, but yet you refuse. It's like a fiance refusing to get you a wedding ring because he feels it's an outdated society based act. Guess what? Everything we do is society based acts. Otherwise, why would we get married at all? But you want to pick and choose which acts you observe.
PS I always take out the garbage and recycling...