What should we call our kids? Choosing children’s surnames when parents’ last names differ

Tampering with Tradition: Rationales Concerning Women’s Married Names and Children’s Surnames

“…Despite significant advances in gender equality, traditional last name choices have remained firmly entrenched; in the United States, most women continue to take their husband's names following marriage (e.g., Goldin and Shim 2004;Hoffnung 2006), and virtually all children bear the father's last name (Johnson and Scheuble 2002). One Canadian journalist recently argued that women should keep their birth name because, given high divorce rates, women who have changed their name are frequently faced with the undesirable choice between retaining the name of an exhusband or enduring the paperwork hassles of reverting to their maiden name (Hampson 2007a, September 20).…”

“…This journalist's viewpoints on name choices seem to some extent to reflect those in Canada and the United States more generally (e.g., Duchesne 2006; Goldin and Shim 2004;Hoffnung 2006;Johnson and Scheuble 1995). Although the number of women choosing to keep their own names following marriage has increased in the United States to some degree over the past three decades (Goldin and Shim 2004), the overwhelming majority of children born in the United States still receive the father's last name rather than the mother's last name or a combination of the two (e.g., Johnson and Scheuble 2002). A similar preference for the father's last name exists in Canada, even in the province of Quebec, where by law women keep their maiden name following marriage (Duchesne 2006).…”

“…In addition, the vast majority of children in both the United States (Johnson and Scheuble 2002) and Canada (Duchesne 2006) continue to receive only the father's last name. In one study, for example, whereas 59.9% of undergraduate women planned take their husband's last name when they married, an even higher proportion, 79.6%, planned a traditional choice for their future child (Twenge 1997).…”

“…In one study, for example, whereas 59.9% of undergraduate women planned take their husband's last name when they married, an even higher proportion, 79.6%, planned a traditional choice for their future child (Twenge 1997). In a sample of 600 women selected from the staff directory of a university, only 1.6% of first born sons and 1.4% of first born daughters were given the mother's birth name as a last name, and only 1.4% of first born sons and .9% of first born daughters were given hyphenated last names (Johnson and Scheuble 2002).…”

Marital Naming Plans among Students at Four Evangelical Colleges

“…In addition to these customary control variables, we add two others. We test perceived family expectations regarding martial names (for a comparable variable in a study of offspring surnames, see [40]). A question on the survey asked: "If you marry, what does your family expect you to do?"…”