Great line: "If ever there were a trophy husband (and I mean that in the big game sense), it would be George Clooney."

I liked "Quite frankly, when you bag one of the biggest animals on the hunt, it seems only natural to want to mount the antlers on your hood."

:-D

Pardon my French but it's none of their friggin' business. I'm so sick of this crowd of shrieking harpies that comes out of the woodwork to scream at other women's choices. Do they lead exemplary lives? Do any of them have the career and clout that she does? I doubt it.

My Mom kept her name, and gave it to me and baby bro as a middle name, but was very emotionally invested in us using it, and when I got married she was like "Don't you want to keep your name?" by which she meant her name, which is not my last name. I kept both my parents names as middle names and took my husband's name.

It was annoying growing up because people always got confused and referred to her as Mrs. Therestofthefamilieslastname and I was forever having to correct them. So I thought I'd skip that complication and we'd all just be the K family.

Actually, though, I think a name change is a powerful way to mark a rite of passage, and it's unfortunate men in our society don't also really have this option.

It is an entirely personal choice. It also depends on a lot of circumstances that no outsider can know - for example, some people don't like their name, and are glad to swap it for a better model.

Overheating feminists have no idea what went into Ms. Clooney's decision, and (as crella says), it ain't any of their damned business anyway.

My wife kept her name. It is entirely normal that strangers will address her as "Ms. " or - if they meet her first - me as "Mr. ". If we're going to see them again, we gently correct them. Otherwise, we let it go. It isn't any sort of problem, not even a small one.

Men DO have this option, and even exercise it --- my brother-in-law did, to keep his wife's family name going. And because his own last name was... unfortunate.

Oh man, they would have a field day with me! I still use my ex husband's last name and we've been divorced for 16 years. I kept it because our kids were young when we divorced and it just made things easier. Even after I got married the second time, I just kept the ex husband's last name because of the kids. Besides, I knew I was always going to be "Mrs. G," with the kids' friends, schools, etc. Hubby #2 was completely unphased by it and we joked that when we got married he should take my last name. My daughters told me a couple of years ago that their dad was pissed that I still use his last name. Eh, whatever, too much hassle to go through changing it at this point.

Come on, Amy. . .

If George was really a "trophy" husband, Amal would have his head up on a plaque on the wall, and be dining on "long pig" for weeks. . .

That's what WE did with "trophy" catches back in Pennsylvania, when I was a boy. . . (evil grin)

claiming she was "giving up a fundamental human right"

I thought that determining what one was called was a fundamental human right? am I wrong?

Smells like you have that right, but you're doing it wrong from the crowd not married to George...

Actually, though, I think a name change is a powerful way to mark a rite of passage, and it's unfortunate men in our society don't also really have this option.

We have our methods.

The beta males hypenate, some monstrosity of Jones-Smith or Smith-Jones.

The rest of us simply change our hairstyle. By change I mean drastically. About 10 years ago, I grew out my hair. And before I made a radical change to it, it was longer than many/most American women's hair, which is radical in its own right.

Then I got it cut off and donated. I wanted a high and tight, but the woman doing the cutting couldn't bring herself to do that. And I let her do her thing - I was willing to listen to her hairstyle advice.

Eventually I went to a male barber and he gave me what I wanted. An acquaintance, upon viewing my new cut blurted out are you going to prison?

"and be dining on "long pig" for weeks. . ." Holy shit I'm not the only one that actually uses that term.

On topic: Yeah we kept the same name she hers me mine. She swear it's for certification purposes. I'm pretty sure it's some feminist thing. Cool no problem, always though the name change was inconsequential. Now when you start commingling external assets and responsibilities. Mother of fuck monkey poop does it gets stupid. Insurance took 9 (fucking NINE) tries to get right. Life insurance took 4+, I still have no idea that if I die will my wife get the payment or someone who doesn't exist. The spelling of my last name is unique. I've been called by her last name which is cute till it gets you ram rodded by DHS because you disappeared on a flight. Checked in on mine checked out on hers. Which was compounded by the fact that I'm on a watch list because I flag as a Chechen rebel leader. So there are lots of reasons to do one or the other not related to sociogendernomic angst. However if your entire career exists solely to foment it you'd be stupid not to jump on this.

Don't get me fucking started about hyphened names, that's the ONLY thing I asked; no hyphened names. Well low and behold her name tag from several charity groups was hyphenated.

A story about last names. My last name is "Crawford", a good Scottish name. So I'm descended from the sons and daughters of that fair country, right? Um, no. When my great-grandfather got sent to a BIA-run boarding school he was told he needed a last name. Somehow they gave him "Crawford". No one knows why.

A name isn't anything but a collection of letters, it doesn't mean shit.

I think Amal Alamuddin is much more euphonious than Amal Clooney but heck, she can do as she wants.

I could have written sara's post!
(minus the married the second time part)
+1
It's just easier. Especially if you plan to reproduce - everybody assumes you have the same last name as your child.

...Easier, after you finish all the paperwork, that is. There is a LOT of it. Most men have no idea what their new brides go through, to get everything switched over. I still have a CC in my maiden name, because it needed too much repetitive paperwork to do the switch, and just fell through the cracks, at the time.

I went to school years ago with a pretty strident feminist. We argued about lots of stuff, and mostly agreed to disagree. When she informed me that she would be getting married after graduation, I commented that I was pretty certain she'd continue to use her current last name.

She brought me up short by explaining that no matter what she did she was going to be named after some man. She preferred that it be one *she* chose, rather than the one her mother chose.

I kept my name. I liked my name. Husband didn't care.

When we had our daughter, he considered naming her using my last name as a middle name or hyphenated. I was against hyphenation, I wanted her to have the same last name her siblings. I didn't like the name as a first or middle name and one of my cousins had already done that.

He gets call Mr. MyLastName and I get called Mrs. HisLastName. I only correct it when it matters. Sometimes it is a problem if we have the other pickup something, I think we had to show are marriage certificate to sign up for something or another.

My grandmother used to send checks to Mrs. HisNickName (which is very different from his first name) HisLastName. I was always worried they wouldn't cash.

I showed my husband the article and this is what he said:

She could have changed it to "Mrs. Clooney-Suck-It-Jealous-Bitches"

One thing I don't like is when women who don't change their names are laughed at on the grounds that they're sticking with "a man's name" they didn't choose over a man they did choose. (Those people, unfortunately, included a well-known 19th century feminist - she was talking to Lucy Stone, IIRC.) I mean, why do we talk as if a woman's name isn't really HERS, as opposed to her father's - or mother's, as the case may be? Especially when neither PARENT chose his/her birth name, either?

Not to mention there are plenty of professional reasons why women often don't change their names - or they do, but not completely. Even some female writers born before 1930 often don't use their married names on their book jackets because they became famous as authors - or artists - long before they married, and it would make things too complicated. (Or, married a second time.)

In the meantime, there are still men, at least, who say they would never marry any woman who wouldn't change her name (they call it a sign of lack of "commitment") and think of it as worse than rude. Psychologist/author/Youtuber Bernard Chapin is one. (He's even become too irritating - too conservative? - for A Voice for Men - he got kicked out, I think.)

"She could have changed it to "Mrs. Clooney-Suck-It-Jealous-Bitches"" Katrina

at the rarified air that these sorts of people move in, I'm guessing this is it, especially since there were so many running after him. Also, she's maybe a little more traditional, I'd wager.

meh, didn't care about my ex not taking my name, since it belongs to my ex-stepfather... but though I'm ambivalent about it, it's way to expensive and difficult to change.

But. It should give a man pause as to what reason a wife might have to not take his. Like everything when combining lives, it doesn't matter much, until it does.

SwissArmyD - My husband's words. I thought it funny and it deserved a bigger audience.

On another note, I had a friend who thought I should be pissed because my husband's ex-wife kept his name.

Why should I care? She wants to have the same name as her kids or doesn't want the hassle of changing it again. Even if I didn't like it, it isn't like I could do anything about it...no point in being upset.

My paypal account is still in my maiden name because it was just not worth the hassle to switch it over. My Drivers license didn't require as much paperwork as my paypal account apparently does. Whatever. It's linked to the correct card and I've never had any issues so it's not that big of a fucking deal.

As far as why some women don't change their names, SwissArmyD, speaking for myself, I can say it's because of my career. I work in theatre. I chose to change my name with only a small transition time with people getting used to it but my friend in this biz did not because she was known by HER name and didn't want to confuse her audiences or directors she was auditioning for. I get that. If my career had been further along, I might have done the same thing but fortunately for me, I was just starting out in this state so my name change wasn't going to cause too much confusion. Now though, I'd probably change my name legally, but keep my known name for gigs to avoid confusion. It borders on the same reason Jennifer Aniston legally changed her name to "Pitt" when they married but still kept "Aniston" for the screen. Her name is sorta her trademark.

A woman in a high profile position may just want to avoid the confusion a name change would cause so she chooses to keep hers. Or maybe she just likes her name. Who cares? It's no ones business but the people who's lives it directly effects, which are those who'd be changing thier names and thier spouse. Everyone else's opinion on it is irrelevant.