She often used both surnames going by Hillary Rodham Clinton but when she ran for President; Hillary Clinton was the ballot name. However it is now common for American women to choose to keep their own surnames.
The Anglo (English) tradition of forcing woman to take a man’s name started after the Norman conquest. Before the Norman Conquest, people did not have hereditary surnames. They were known just by a personal name or nickname. After that, they took up the new Norman French legal idea of coverture. This was the idea that “her legal existence as an individual was suspended under ‘marital unity,’ a legal fiction in which the husband and wife were considered a single entity: the husband.” Before this time women had more social power. By the 1340s a court ruled that, “when a woman took a husband, she lost every surname except ‘wife of’”. This decision would have been repealed and overtaken by circumstances.
This choice varies across cultures. In rural Pakistan, women retain their birth names unless they need to request a government document, while in Norway children automatically receive the mother’s name unless a couple otherwise informs authorities.
In China, no one takes their husbands name. The kids have the father’s family name. The wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping is not Mrs Xi. She is PengLiyuan. And President Hu’s wife was Liu Yongqing.
In Japan, the couple is required to choose one name or the other. In Iceland, most people do not have a surname. They have a patronymic. Patronymic is a name formed after one’s father’s name. There are rules about what first names you can use. Women don’t change their name at marriage. Another option Icelandic law provides is to use both parents’ name as last name.
In other cultures especially Middle Eastern or Arabian cultures, a husband is legally accepted to be the legal guardian of his spouse and all legal terms and conditions are dictated by him including that of the children. While Quebec and Greece legally enforces women to adopt their names, Malaysia and Korea leave it open. Netherlands allow change of a woman’s name for specified official reasons.
In Nigeria, the more traditional folks believe it is proper for a woman to take up her husband’s name as failure to do so shows that she is not fully committed to the marriage. In some situations, the husbands do not find it comfortable and may be insecure with their wives bearing different names. There may also have been issues with uniformity in documentation which is basically the core reasons for bearing the same surnames. But objectively now, nowhere was it stated expressly under Biblical laws that it is mandatory but it is the norm since the basic concept of marriage therein is founded on “two shall become one” doctrine.
Under our extant laws, no marriage has been voided for this reason. Let me add here that many women think that adopting a spouse name provides security baring other reasons. I’m sorry to disrupt the illusion; the struggle should not just be about bearing spousal name but ensuring that it translates to joint ownership of properties and chattels. Trust is the basic foundation of any union but I always advise couples to dot their I’s and cross their T’s. In documents specify actual names on the deed or documents. Why? For see future cases of inheritance and succession and (just in cases of divorce). While we never pray for untoward happening, it’s never wrong to ensure your documents are valid and binding.
The most dangerous thing in the world for any woman is to lose your identity in all its forms in marriage. A woman must always understand purpose and the fact that she is an entity created to fulfill that. Don’t go to sleep on the comfort of your spouse. You are a force unto yourself. Name taking or not doesn’t change these truths.
Don’t reject this by fire. Don’t snap your fingers and say God forbid. Ensure you know. Seek to know. Even if your spouse has good plans for you and the family, it is not greed to ensure you are within the plan or there should be a plan B. Because it takes two to tango. And the deepest place on earth is the human mind.
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