As expected the general public had mixed but strong opinions on the matter. Thom Lancaster, 21 a retail assistant from Selby says, “Yes, it’s one of the few traditional values I’m all for.” In agreement, Jamie Skelton, 23 a data processor from Hull explains that “it’s the cornerstone of the marriage process.”
Not all were in agreement though, most identifiably it was suggested that it should entirely be the choice of the woman on how she wants to be recognised. “She should only if she wants to. It shouldn't be expected nor forced. Equally, if a woman chooses to, she shouldn't be mocked.” Claire Thompson, 24 said. Alex Lewis, 20 agreed: “It should be a choice; it’s traditional but I can understand why women may decide to keep their own family name.”
In an albeit different idea, some suggested that a husband and wife should double-barrel both of their surnames. Shawnee Jardine, 23 said: “I'd want a double-barrelled name that my husband would also adopt. However, if a woman chooses to, that's her prerogative.”
Viv Thom, 63, who leads in International Student Support for Student and Learning Services at Sheffield Hallam University, says: “When I was young I chose not to get married at all because I didn’t believe in marriage and I didn’t see the point in it. That seemed to me quite an important statement to make at the time, and I just wanted to challenge those conventions. If I had got married though I wouldn’t have changed my name.”
It’s often the case that women are expected to change their surname in order to suit their husband. At birth we are labelled with the identifier we call a ‘name’ so why should it be that a woman changes her identifier half way through her life?
Rosalind Brunt, 69, who is a Visiting Research Fellow in Media Studies at Sheffield Hallam University said she preferred a concept which was more popular in the seventies: “Some women would make up their own name after marriage, or with their children, they would make up a surname for their child that was neither parent. There was a fashion at one time to call your child ‘Wilde’ if you were a single woman, or you weren’t living with the man, because that used to be something illegitimate children would use.”
As there are a variety of imaginative concepts for surname changes after marriage, it’s disheartening to see the concept where the woman has to change her surname as the most popular. The belief that women should substitute their surname for marriage, exchanging their own identity for their spouse's, is - undoubtedly - sexist. And I say "undoubtedly" as not one person could argue there is a conviction for the same name-change in men.
Is it traditional for a wife to change to her husband’s surname or is it an out-dated protocol? Have your say below.