Topic: Did you or your partner change their name after marriage? Read 734 times

buckybee · « **on:** September 14, 2020, 10:03:58 am »

I'm going to be married next year and I'm still mulling over changing my name. I'm marrying a Korean man and as, I'm assuming, most of you know that Korean women don't generally change their names after marrying.

I'm curious as to what most people did and whether you thought it was beneficial or not.

shostager · « **Reply #1 on:** September 14, 2020, 10:10:13 am »

I also married a Korean man, and since neither of us (nor our families) felt strongly about the name change, it didn't happen. In my opinion, it's a lot of hassle (filing the forms, etc.), and not worth it.

Some people like it because they feel that it connects them more strongly (or reduces confusion, especially if you plan to have children and are also planning on moving back somewhere like the US), and that's fine, but I just didn't go that route. I haven't had any problems with not changing my name.

O.quan6 · « **Reply #2 on:** September 14, 2020, 10:10:51 am »

I have always been proud of my last name. I'm currently dating a Korean man, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that women don't change their names here. So win-win.

thunderlips · « **Reply #3 on:** September 14, 2020, 10:58:12 am »

My wife kept her maiden name, which is cool with me. When we move to the US she can consider about changing her name, but with the visa application it is easier to keep her maiden.

Personally I think it is an antiquated custom.

tunacookie · « **Reply #4 on:** September 14, 2020, 11:07:25 am »

Married to a Korean woman, funnily enough we both had the same last name anyway, so there was no need!

CO2 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 14, 2020, 11:13:32 am »

Quote from: tunacookie on September 14, 2020, 11:07:25 am

Married to a Korean woman, funnily enough we both had the same last name anyway, so there was no need!

*just kidding

Don Hobak · « **Reply #6 on:** September 14, 2020, 11:18:04 am »

Quote from: tunacookie on September 14, 2020, 11:07:25 am

Married to a Korean woman, funnily enough we both had the same last name anyway, so there was no need!

Might still be fun to hyphenate.

Go-Go. Roh-Roh. Bae-Bae

robin_teacher · « **Reply #7 on:** September 14, 2020, 12:45:55 pm »

I don't think I'll legally change my last name officially because of the hassle but I'll probably hyphenate in casual/ non-official settings.

Don Hobak · « **Reply #8 on:** September 14, 2020, 01:05:50 pm »

We considered having our kids take my wifes last name just to avoid the hassle of having a more-than-four-syllable name on korean documents, but decided against it because my wife was worried that people might assume that they were bastard (literal sense) children.

« **Reply #9 on:** September 14, 2020, 01:53:48 pm »

I'm married to a Korean man and still keep my maiden name. Keeping my maiden name makes me feel connected to my family's history and root. I'm not planning on changing it when we move to the states and he prefers I keep my maiden name.

JNM · « **Reply #10 on:** September 14, 2020, 02:51:27 pm »

My first wife (1994) did because she was a traditionalist; second (2007) so her passport would match my kids (we lived in a border town, so we crossed almost daily.)

oglop · « **Reply #11 on:** September 14, 2020, 03:26:21 pm »

Quote from: thunderlips on September 14, 2020, 10:58:12 am

My wife kept her maiden name, which is cool with me. When we move to the US she can consider about changing her name, but with the visa application it is easier to keep her maiden.

Personally I think it is an antiquated custom.

yeah exactly. neither of us care enough to bother changing names. more hassle than it's worth really

nightninja · « **Reply #12 on:** September 15, 2020, 01:01:28 pm »

It's just too much of a hassle while living abroad and with all the documents and accounts that would need changing: phone, bank, passport, social security in the US, driver's license etc

Additionally, for me, my husband thought it would be weird because it's just not done here and I'm not sure how long ago but my husband's family name was not allowed to marry a person with the same family name because there were too few of them...now it's ok but I still wouldn't want to change my name anyway....might have if I was in the US, but then again I might not have done so .....

buckybee · « **Reply #13 on:** September 16, 2020, 10:00:35 am »

Thanks for all the replies everybody.

MayorHaggar · « **Reply #14 on:** September 16, 2020, 12:12:57 pm »

My wife and I aren't Korean. When we got married we spent the next 4 years without changing her name on anything but our American-issued marriage certificate because we didn't feel like dealing with explaining it to Korean banks, immigration, etc, and getting all our Korean documents changed. Anytime we'd mention to Koreans that Western women often change their last names when they get married, this would pretty much be the response:

Topic: Did you or your partner change their name after marriage? Read 734 times

Did you or your partner change their name after marriage?

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