So much for the '70s and '80s when many young brides defied tradition and kept their birth names after they married. Turns out, this was just a blip in history and not the start of something new.
The vast majority of today's brides--fully 77 percent--take their husband's name when they marry instead of keeping their own as a symbol of independent identity, according to a new study from the University of Florida. "Adopting a husband's last name remains an entrenched tradition that is on the upswing," says linguistics professor Diana Boxer, who led the series of studies. "I think it reflects how men's power continues to influence American society despite the fact that women have made great advances economically and socially."
There is one exception. Highly educated women in academic and professional positions tend to keep their birth names after marriage. The survey of 134 married women who ranged in age from 20-something to 70-something, found that just 18 percent kept their own names, compared with 77 percent who took their husband's name. The remaining 5 percent hyphenated their names.
So why are women reverting to this age-old tradition? Most cite family unity. "Taking on my husband's last name was an outward sign of our union," explained one woman. "It served to make me feel that I was 'really married' and that we were forming a brand new family."
Children were the most important issue of family unity for these women, who sought to avoid the confusion of having more than one surname in the family. But while divorced women would not return to their birth surname because they wanted the same name as their children, they did not hesitate to adopt a new husband's name at remarriage, even though it meant their name now differed from that of their children.
While all the women who retained their birth surnames were satisfied with their choice, some who changed expressed regret, Boxer said. "I associate my new surname with my husband's relatives, whom I dislike," said one participant. Another woman was disappointed to lose a symbol of her ethnic heritage in giving up her Italian name.
Understanding naming traditions is important because they give clues about underlying social patterns and shifts in attitudes about expected roles for women, said Boxer. "People say 'It's only a name, what's in a name?' Well, we think there's a lot in a name," she said. "Linguistic symbols tell us how people are treated in society."
The study findings were presented to a meeting of the Association of Applied Linguistics in Madison, Wis.
The vast majority of today's brides--fully 77 percent--take their husband's name when they marry instead of keeping their own as a symbol of independent identity, according to a new study from the University of Florida. "Adopting a husband's last name remains an entrenched tradition that is on the upswing," says linguistics professor Diana Boxer, who led the series of studies. "I think it reflects how men's power continues to influence American society despite the fact that women have made great advances economically and socially."
There is one exception. Highly educated women in academic and professional positions tend to keep their birth names after marriage. The survey of 134 married women who ranged in age from 20-something to 70-something, found that just 18 percent kept their own names, compared with 77 percent who took their husband's name. The remaining 5 percent hyphenated their names.
So why are women reverting to this age-old tradition? Most cite family unity. "Taking on my husband's last name was an outward sign of our union," explained one woman. "It served to make me feel that I was 'really married' and that we were forming a brand new family."
Children were the most important issue of family unity for these women, who sought to avoid the confusion of having more than one surname in the family. But while divorced women would not return to their birth surname because they wanted the same name as their children, they did not hesitate to adopt a new husband's name at remarriage, even though it meant their name now differed from that of their children.
While all the women who retained their birth surnames were satisfied with their choice, some who changed expressed regret, Boxer said. "I associate my new surname with my husband's relatives, whom I dislike," said one participant. Another woman was disappointed to lose a symbol of her ethnic heritage in giving up her Italian name.
Understanding naming traditions is important because they give clues about underlying social patterns and shifts in attitudes about expected roles for women, said Boxer. "People say 'It's only a name, what's in a name?' Well, we think there's a lot in a name," she said. "Linguistic symbols tell us how people are treated in society."
The study findings were presented to a meeting of the Association of Applied Linguistics in Madison, Wis.
