Getting Married....What to do with my name?!

[juror#1]

I am sure this topic has been brought up before but I just need some advice.

I just finished my undergraduate degree and will be starting in a PhD program this August. I am also getting married in less than a month and still have no idea what to do with my name. My fiancé is pretty adamant about me taking his last name for everything (including publications). No matter what, I will take his last name legally for social stuff, bank accounts, etc. The problem lies in the fact that I have published a decent amount (1 article, 2 columns, 1 encyclopedia entry, and 2 book chapters, along with paper talks and several posters) under my current name, and I would really like to keep using that for publications to avoid confusion or losing my work. I never thought this would be a problem, but I just don't know what to do.

Is it too confusing to have one name professionally and another for everything else, as my fiancé thinks? Will it be hard to transition from publishing under one name to another? Can I legally publish under my maiden name if it is not part of my legal name anymore (I have considered making it my middle name, but my current middle name is after my grandmother who is so supportive of me and looked crushed when my mother told her I might replace it)? I know no one can tell me what I should do (as it is my choice) but advice or your own experiences with this would be helpful:) .

It also does not help that every woman in my life is telling me to keep my maiden name, while every man is telling me I should just go with convention and give it up.

[nescafe]

oh, good question, and one I've sort of tossed around myself. i have no sage advice.... just wanted to say that i would also like to hear other women's experience on this.

[rising_star]

See this post:

[Phalène]

Why not be FirstName MiddleLast MaidenName MarriedName? Lots of people have two maiden names... you could also hyphenate.

[Clawsworth]

I did not do any publishing before I got married, but I got rid of my old middle name (never liked it), used my maiden name as my middle name, and took my husband's last name. Personally, I like having the same last name as my husband, but I know it's not for everyone. We decided to have the same last name and to pick which one we liked the best. We both like his last name more, and since I was never attached to my maiden name (my mother made it up out of nowhere so it has no long family significance), I took his. It's all about what you and your fiance think is best though, and I do think you'd still be able to publish under your maiden name in either circumstance.

[jlee306]

I agree with Phalène. For example, if your name is Jane Rose Smith now, you could use Jane Rose Smith-Patterson (Patterson being the man's last name) after you are married. I would think that people would know that you are the same person who published the previous stuff because most people know women take on a new name when they get married. At least this way, you will still have your maiden last name to show and your married name.

[OnceAndFutureGrad]

My last name is a frumpy sort of Anglo-Norman name full of consonants. I'm not crazy about my dad and I've considered using my mother's simple Irish maiden name, but I've decided that the name I grew up with is what I want to bear for the rest of my life. It also helps that someone once declared that my hoity-toity last name deserves a "Professor" in front of it!

My boyfriend (of four years) has a Polish last name. I could potentially hyphenate my last name with a -Smith or -Baker or -Johnson, but there's no way I could go around in life with a Polish name the length of my arm tacked on. He's extremely fond of his last name and family history, complete with a tattoo, so there's no way he's changing his name. Fortunately he is very respectful of my decision to keep my name, so we're completely down with having a two-name household.

We've already decided that the wee bairns are going to be FirstName MiddleName MyLastName HisLastName. That way on school forms etc. they'll be FirstName HisLastName, and I won't object to being accidentally called Mrs. HisLastName. Though there should be some funny moments if the other party realizes that I'm actually Dr. MyLastName...or calls him Mr. MyLastName!

[mudlark]

I agree with Phalène. For example, if your name is Jane Rose Smith now, you could use Jane Rose Smith-Patterson (Patterson being the man's last name) after you are married. I would think that people would know that you are the same person who published the previous stuff because most people know women take on a new name when they get married. At least this way, you will still have your maiden last name to show and your married name.

Most importantly, if you use both names or hyphenate them, your old work should still show up on google or database searches for your new name.

Bottom line, it's your name, your career, and you're already making a huge change for him. He'll adapt to whatever you choose.

[Shiryatsya]

Most importantly, if you use both names or hyphenate them, your old work should still show up on google or database searches for your new name.

I highly recommend not using the hyphen and just adding his last name after (or before if that's your thing) yours. Here is why: If your last name is A and his is B and you published a few papers as A a google search of your new name with a hyphen A-B will not turn up article with just the last name A where as a search for A B would (a search for A would turn up both). I'm not sure if this is true but I had a co-worker who went through this dilemma and chose A B rather than A-B and this is why she said she did.

[alexis]

One of my professors published quite a bit before getting married and changing her name, at least 10+ journal articles I would say. She did what others have suggested and her maiden name is now her middle name, so instead of "Suzie Q. Jones" now it's "Suzie Jones Doe."

She has found it a little bit frustrating to not have her works linked as easily, but really, it's not a big deal, career-wise. Her CV still has those publications listed, when she goes up for tenure they will be a part of that, etc...it shouldn't have much of a bearing on your career. Anyone who makes a decent effort to search for you would come across your webpage (if you have one), listing all your publications, so it's not like those publications get disassociated with you when you change your name. So no, I don't think it will be difficult or confusing to publish under a new name.

I'm not sure how easy it is to publish under a different name than your legal one. One thing to think about, though, is how your name will be associated with future job applications, faculty positions, etc...for example, your bio/application would have your legal name, then your list of publications, including current ones, would all be under a different name. That seems more confusing to me than just changing your name now and putting your new name on everything.

For my personal experience, I was married before having any publications. But I changed my last name to my husband's because I hated my (long, hyphenated) maiden name. My husband's was much prettier. Seriously, that's the main reason I changed it. I know, pretty superficial...

I would do what YOU want to do. I really don't think the change is going to affect your career or publishing record in any negative way though.

Here is a good thread on the topic from seasoned academics that might help you:

http://chronicle.com...ic,33201.0.html

and:

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,28480.0.html

Edited July 2, 2010 by alexis

[pbd87]

I've heard of some awkward moments here from a female professor that changed her name after several publications. One notable case includes a grad student criticizing the early work of said professor, published under her maiden name, with the professor in the room.

grad student: "And you can see the problems here with this paper by Jones"

professor: "Yeah, that's me, that's my paper under my maiden name"

grad student: "Wait, what?"

It seems from my anecdotal experiences that more females don't change their names if they already have significant work done in academia, but that's just my anecdotal experience. I guess it's up to you to decide whether you've crossed a threshold where you shouldn't change your name.

But regardless, I wouldn't try to go half way whatever you decide. Go all or do nothing: change it on everything or don't change it at all.

Edited August 20, 2010 by pbd87

[rachaelski]

I recently married (wow, almost a year ago!), according to my SSN and all that, I changed my name to my first name and my new last name. For academic purposes, I use my First Maiden Married. It's a little long, since my maiden name is Polish, but it has been helpful as I am getting to know people in my department. I hadn't published anything, but for my local school community it made things easier.

[tskinner]

Take her advice:

[Genomic Repairman]

I have a friend in a similar position and what she did was take his name, but when publishing she hyphenated her last names so she can link her old publications to her new name anytime anyone searches for them.

[kkompiles]

I highly recommend not using the hyphen and just adding his last name after (or before if that's your thing) yours. Here is why: If your last name is A and his is B and you published a few papers as A a google search of your new name with a hyphen A-B will not turn up article with just the last name A where as a search for A B would (a search for A would turn up both). I'm not sure if this is true but I had a co-worker who went through this dilemma and chose A B rather than A-B and this is why she said she did.

I completely agree. It's really all about the google.

[juilletmercredi]

I'm almost positive that you can still use your maiden name to publish even if it is not your legal name - look at all the novelists who publish under pseudonyms. I think the laws in most states say that you can take on any name that you like as long as you are not using it for fraudulent purposes, and if you are using that name consistently, then it's yours.

Here's what I'm planning on doing, with the same problem. I'm simply adding my maiden name to my middle name. I too, love my middle name and don't want to rid myself of it, so I'm going to be Melissa Rene Mylastname Hislastname. I'm going by my last name professionally - my students and colleagues will call me Dr. Mylastname, and I will publish under that name, but socially and legally (ID, check signing, credit cards, passport, etc.) I'll be Mrs./Dr. Hislastname. I'm choosing not to hyphenate because I want to use my maiden name singly in addition to the fact that our names sound stupid hyphenated.

I think it will cause more confusion for you to try to change your name professionally when you've published so much already. When people go to search for your name, it will be more difficult for them to find you (where you are in academia, what university, what you are currently doing). You'll essentially have two sets of literature under two different names. But considering that your professional circle is likely to be very different from your social circle, I don't think having a separate professional and personal name is going to be confusion, and I also think that anyone who lies in both can be assured with a simple explanation ("I use my maiden name professionally, and my married name socially." How difficult is that to understand?)

Of course the men in your life are telling you to go with convention and give it up. At the risk of sounding pedantic, it benefits men more in society for women to go with the convention and give their name up. I always say that for any man that's insisting that you give up your name for his (especially if he uses the "But I want us to be a cohensive family!" excuse), turn around and insist that HE give up HIS name for YOURS. You'll still have the same last name, right? See how quickly his tune changes then. But, of course, you have to work with your fiance the best way YOU know fit. (Mine doesn't really care so much.)