Married And Maiden Names
A married name is a family name or surname adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of his or her spouse, this name replaces the person's original maiden name or birth name.
The term "birth name" is a synonym for "maiden name," and has been increasingly used in place of it, or interchangeably with it, since the 1970s. Feminists prefer "birth name" as a more accurate label for the name received at birth, compared with maiden name, which has been criticized as being archaic and having sexual double standard implications.
The term "maiden name" is rarely applied to the change of family names by men, or by either sex other than in connection with marriage. "Birth name" is sometimes used specifically as a gender-neutral (or male only) substitute for "maiden name."
In some jurisdictions, changing one's name requires a legal procedure; however, in some jurisdictions, anyone who either marries or divorces may change his or her name if he or she wishes. Due to increasing security and identification needs, even where it is legal, the common law method is rarely accepted anymore except at marriage (especially for women). Traditionally in the Anglophone West, only women do so, but sometimes men change their last names upon marriage as well. In the United States, only seven states have an official name change for a man as part of their marriage process, others may petition a court, or, where not prohibited, use the common law method (though sometimes not recognized by government agencies for men). Due to the widespread tradition of women changing their names at marriage, they encounter little difficulty using the common law method at marriage in those jurisdictions that permit it.
Read more about Married And Maiden Names: Customs Relating To Maiden Names in Marriages, Same-sex Marriages, Legal Status of Name Changes At Marriage, Feminism and Preserving One's Personal Name, Genealogy
Famous quotes containing the words married, maiden and/or names:
“... married women work and neglect their children because the duties of the homemaker become so depreciated that women feel compelled to take a job in order to hold the respect of the community. It is one thing if women work, as many of them must, to help support the family. It is quite another thing—it is destructive of woman’s freedom—if society forces her out of the home and into the labor market in order that she may respect herself and gain the respect of others.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)
“Then louder cry’d the Clerk Colvill,
O sairer, sairer akes my head;
And sairer, sairer ever will,
The maiden crys, ‘till you be dead.”
—Unknown. Clerk Colvill (l. 33–36)
“When the Day of Judgement dawns and the great conquerors and lawyers and statesmen come to receive their rewards—their crowns, their laurels, their names carved indelibly upon imperishable marble—the Almighty will turn to Peter and will say, not without a certain envy when he sees us coming with our books under our arms, “Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them here. They have loved reading.””
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)