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Oh, I'm interested in responses to this. I didn't change my name, either but no kids yet.

LO just has my husband's last name.

One of my cousins gave her daughter her last name name as a second middle name; but our LO already has 2 middle names so we just left out my last name completely.

I didn't change my name. LO just has his last name.

I thought 2 middles was a lot of name for a little kid, so we just kept it simple.

No LOs yet but we are planning to hyphenate so they will have both last names. I don't want to get into any situations where I have to explain that I am really this child's mother.

@tlcbaby: I did take my husband's last name (just now, a week ago--haha), but you can totally have 2 middle names or two last names on a SS card, too. When I did take my husband's last name I kept my original names and just added his: First-Middle-Maiden-Married Last name.

The onyl issue your LO might ever have is a driver's license, and that depends on state. In Texas, people can have two last names or two first names or what have you. I've know people names Maria-Jose Rodriguez Cordero--and that's just a double first name and double last name. But now, in NJ, they only let you have a middle initial and only let you have a hyphenated last name, or some other nonsense like that.

So they only put my First name, original middle initial, and husband's last name,...grrrr. It really pissed me off, actually. But they said there are no exceptions.

@Anagram: Actually, I think that's better. In MA, they gave me the option of one or two initials and without thinking I did both, but now whenever I fill out say, an airline form, I have to make sure they include both initials and it's annoying. I wish I had just left it as my original middle initial, even though I have two middle names now.

I have 4 names altogether--I added my husband's as a 2nd last name when we got married--and I actually hate it, I wish I'd just hyphenated! So I'd discourage anyone from using 4 names, it's just too complicated logistically in the US where it isn't the norm. my middle name is my mom's maiden name, and I love that route--when we have a lo, we'll use dh's name for the last but either my last or middle (i.e., mom's maiden or my maiden) as the middle name. hopefully we'll have 2 so I can use each of them

@MrsTiz: @tlcbaby: That's right. In Quebec, women cannot assume their husband's name after marriage.

The only reasons you can change your name in Quebec are a) Your name is embarrassing or hard to pronounce or b) you've been using a name for over 5 years and can prove it. Getting married is not a valid reason for a name change.

So married women could change their name after 5 years, but most don't. Also we're talking a legal change of name here (like it would even change on the birth certificate), not just assuming the name like most women do after marriage.

In most Hispanic countries most women don't change their last names when married. Keeping with Hispanic tradition, our kids will have both our last names, His Last Name My Last Name. I have both parents last names on my S.S. and on my birth certificate.

@MrsTiz: Yep! That's why I am happy I was legally married in Ontario a few days before having my wedding in Quebec! I wanted to take my husband's name.

@Anagram: I'll give a fake name as an example because it's easier to explain with an actual name: my name is formatted similarly to "Alice Smith Rosenberg Johansen" (including that many syllables per name--it's a mouthful!)--that's what's on my passport, license, etc. Credit cards, however, don't recognize that name format: on one credit card, to make it fit my name I'm "A Rosenberg Johanson", on another it's "Alice S. Rosenberg-Johanson," and my debit card says "Alice S. Rosenberg Johanson." So kiosks at airports never work, for example, bc they don't recognize the format of my name--I almost always have to wait in long lines to see a real person. Or if I make appointments for doctors or restaurants or whatever, I can never keep track of whether they've filed me under Rosenberg or Johanson; at my gym, you need to swipe an ID but sometimes the machines are broken so they take your id while you're working out and sometimes alphabetize my card under R and other times J....my grad school has mostly ignored the fact that I changed my name, even though I did before my first semester, so I'm always just "Alice Rosenberg" to them.

it's just way more complicated than if I'd either just kept my name as is or hyphenated! I kick myself all the time for it! So if we have 2 children (hopefully!) we'll name them firstname Smith Johanson and firstname Rosenberg Johanson and keeping easier

She has my husband's last name. My last name is so long, I wouldn't want her to have it as a second middle name and also part of the reason I didn't hyphenate my own name. It doesn't bother me.

I kept my maiden name but have LO my husbands last name. I do plan on hyphenation y last name anyways...just haven't gotten around to it. People refer to me as Mrs. T... Anyways. I use his last name in some of my email addresses but I use my maiden name on all resumes and paperwork.

@knittylady: you rebel, you

I didn't change my name, and our daughter has my last name. DH didn't really care either way, and her name sounded best with my last name, so that was really the deciding factor. Pretty sure it weirds people out though lol