Nope. This blog entry is not about my parents. Good guess, but it’s not about my grandparents either or any of my relatives. It’s about me.

A long while back, probably over 8 years ago, I started a discussion with a few friends over why women take a man’s last name when they enter into marriage. Along with that came, do they have to? It led me to discover that there are somewhere around 11 (if I remember correctly) different ways to alter last names when two people get married. Some of them are pretty damn bizarre. However, one of the options is for the husband to take the wife’s last name.

This isn’t such a bad idea. There’s no reason for people to assume the woman is going to change her last name. It should be one of those decisions that are evaluated (just like number of children) when two people think about being married. I decided that one of the qualities I wanted in a man was one that would at least consider taking my last name. This is not to say I am some crazy feminist that won’t do anything normal. I am more than happy to take a man’s last name. However, they should be equally willing to weigh the reverse also. Changing a last name is a pretty big step and I don’t think many realize this. It’s not just the paperwork, what about the reputation and brand someone has built up on their last name. Changing that can throw everything off. Why isn’t that even taken into consideration?

The past two men I’ve dated have totally been repulsed by the theory. They also didn’t work out in the end. Maybe I’ll start applying this again.