They never thought they’d change last names. Here’s why they ultimately did

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Washington Post: Why women take their husbands’ last names for reasons beyond tradition.

Many women take the name of their husband for reasons that have almost nothing to do with their spouses. Photo / 123rf

These women took their husbands’ names for reasons that have nothing to do with the patriarchy.

Until recently, Caroline Garcia was known, personally and professionally, as Caroline Levich. But after getting married in March, the 34-year-old television writer took her husband Eddie’s last name “immediately,” surprising plenty of the people in her life – not least herself.

“For a long time, [I thought] I would not be the woman who would take a [man’s] last name,” Garcia said, adding that her mother and sister have both changed their names multiple times after marriages and divorces.

A self-described liberal feminist, Garcia, who lives in Los Angeles, says she’s received pushback from other women who tell her that they’re “a little disappointed” in her, which she resents.

“This was actually me choosing to take a new last name,” Garcia said, explaining that Eddie’s family is particularly proud of their heritage as immigrants from El Salvador. “I was marrying into this family [that] had this beautiful legacy that I’m really excited to be a part of.”

In certain circles, the stereotype of a woman who takes her husband’s last name is that she’s a traditionalist, or a ride-or-die for the patriarchy – the type of woman who might doodle her married name in a notebook like a schoolgirl with a crush. The Save America Act, which passed the House early this year and has been criticised for its potential to disenfranchise married women voters who have changed their last names, has – despite stalling in the Senate – prompted conversations about the custom’s downsides.

It’s true that the practice of a woman taking her husband’s last name is rooted in a patriarchal law, called coverture, which originated in 13th-century England and dictated that a woman only existed, legally speaking, in relation to her father and then to her husband.

But that doesn’t quite explain why, in…

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