At first, it was just scribbling on the cover of a textbook or being called out by attendees. In later years, it will appear at the front of your resume, stamped on your driver’s license, and if you’re lucky, signed on the deed to your home.
But some may change the name without fully understanding the impact of their decision, for better or worse.
According to a Pew Research study released last year, 80% of married women in heterosexual relationships in the United States take their husband’s last name. Although this trend has shown little sign of changing over the past few decades, young people aged 18 to 49 were twice as likely to continue using their original surname than those aged 50 and over.
That being said, 73% of women under 50 chose to take their partner’s last name.
And for each person who does so, the decision is very personal and often complicated by professional considerations, says the service, which has helped more than 400,000 brides through the name change process. , says Michael Bradich, owner of MissNowMrs.com. While some people “jump in with both feet” with little consideration, those trading in their own names often pause, Vladich told Fortune.
After all, “their name is part of their career.”
Name changes come with unexpected costs
Those who decide to change their name, or perhaps to separate their “professional” name from their legal name, may face unexpected difficulties, experts told Fortune magazine.
For example, academic women struggle to match their accomplishments with their maiden and married names, and risk losing important funding, opportunities, and promotions as a result. Similarly, professionals who earned certifications or licenses under a previous name need to ensure that their paperwork is processed quickly in order to continue practicing, while professionals with a valuable digital footprint need to ensure that their personal You may lose the brand element.
There’s also a reputation and (hopefully) credibility attached to the name you see on your LinkedIn page or in your email signature, and that perception can take time to rebuild.
However, there are also many benefits to changing your last name. That might mean breaking down the biases built into hiring and application systems when it comes to race, age, or gender, or it might mean adding an extra layer of privacy to your personal life.
For those looking to start fresh, whether for personal reasons or a change in career path, a name change can also act as a digital reset. In addition to that, it also provides an opportunity to build trusting relationships with colleagues and customers.
And of course, there is the most important reason. Because people are happier if they just change their name.
Experts Fortune spoke to made it clear that there is no right or wrong choice. However, an informed decision is preferable.
How name changes affect women in the workplace
Bala Chaudhary never thought much about her professional name, except when adding the “Dr.” Until I heard a male colleague complain about a fellow scientist changing his last name after getting married.
At the time, Chaudhary, who works in Dartmouth College’s School of Environmental Studies, was mentored by a female scientist whom she described as a “giant in the field.” When Chaudhary visited an external research lab, she encountered a male colleague who complained that her supervisor’s papers were published under both his married name and his maiden name, making it difficult to obtain them.
“I was surprised to hear such a well-respected and brilliant scientist talked about negatively because of her name. And her name change is very common and one of the most common. Because it’s such a phenomenon, I was like, “Of all the things that women in science have to deal with?” This seems like the most trivial thing,” Chaudhary told Fortune.
Chaudhary’s experience of “tremendous pressure” not to change her last name is consistent with Pew Research Center findings that women with more academic experience are less likely to change their names. Approximately 83% of women with a college degree or less changed their name after marriage, compared to 79% of women with a bachelor’s degree. And at the graduate level, this percentage drops further to 68%.
I have a child with a different last name.
A name change also advertises a change in an individual’s personal life, which can trigger a series of assumptions. Chaudhary stressed that this may be a conversation women want to avoid.
A common belief is that after marriage, couples will want to start a family (and the data suggests this is true to some extent), but there is often a domino effect on women’s careers. It’s starting to be reported.
A 2023 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that from 2015 to 2019, more than half (53%) of births were to married women, and about 25% to women in cohabiting situations. It turns out. A study by Dr. Gladys M. Martinez and Dr. Kimberly Daniels also confirmed that 20% of married women give birth to a second child within 24 months of the birth of their first child.
Of course, not all women who get married and change their surname will have children. They are increasingly satisfied with a DINK (dual income, no children) lifestyle or are not having children of their own free will. However, it is possible for an outsider to draw conclusions, wrong or not, about how a woman’s career would progress if she were to become a wife and, by extension, a future mother. The idea that there is still remains.
Chaudhary said this data is proven in the real world and the fact that women must even consider the repercussions of sharing personal information. They were always mindful of how they would be perceived as professionals. ”
Changing licenses, passports and other documents
Bradicich of MissNowMrs.com has worked with new brides over the years and one thing has become clear to her. That said, career depth can affect how much of a problem a name change causes.
Bradich started MissNowMrs.com in 2006 after seeing friends struggling with the mountains of paperwork involved in the name change process. In the nearly 20 years since then, Vladich and his team have helped more than 400,000 women with the same problem, and said a clear pattern has emerged.
“For younger people who are in university or haven’t started a significant career yet, the only thing they really need to work on are government systems,” he explained. “It’s important to make sure they’re done directly and in the correct order, but it’s very much a matter of procedure.”
But he continued: “When you get into the professional world, there’s a lot more change. You have to change your name on your payroll. When you do that, your company email changes and it starts the ball rolling, and then… You have to worry about professional certifications and licenses, everything has to change to be consistent, otherwise you will have problems. The depth of your professional career is a big factor. ”
The effect of each experience also leads to a corresponding awareness of what the changed name means, but individuals still find themselves exposed, Vladich added. .
“It’s only at the very end of the professional spectrum that they use their name and consider their name to be part of their career,” he told Fortune. “Once you get away from that, I don’t think there’s a lot of consideration, people jump in with both feet.
“What people don’t consider when traveling is when they start the process without considering how long it will take. They end up receiving mismatched travel documents, passports, driving licenses, and all kinds of Trouble will occur.”
What are the benefits of changing your last name? a new start
Jamie White, an Ireland-based life coach and business mentor, told Fortune that a name change could not only “reset” a chronically online world, but also add a layer of privacy. spoke.
Mr White, who is a guest lecturer at some of the country’s top universities including Trinity College and Dublin City University, is increasingly seeing individuals using their names “strategically”.
He explained: “In the digital age where everything is tracked, by the time someone reaches a professional level or perhaps their career has evolved, all their accomplishments are there. So when we say, ‘New career, new name, new me,’ is very advantageous. It can become digital whitewashing. ”
This is also a useful tool for individuals looking for a little more anonymity online. Just ask any teacher who tries to hide their social media profiles from the curious eyes of their students.
In the long term, a name change may also be a way to avoid bias that is unfortunately built into the education and employment systems. For example, a 2023 University of Michigan study of 30 million records found that students with last names in the last half of the alphabet (K to Z) scored lower when graded alphabetically than when graded randomly. I knew I had scored points.
Similarly, students with early initials of the alphabet (A through E) tended to perform better than a random sample. The study says this bias has a “significant long-term impact on students’ careers”, but it also finds further obstacles on recruitment platforms.
An ongoing study by King’s College London in the UK, which analyzed more than 12,000 job applications, found that international discrimination persists. It found that applicants with English names received around 27% of positive responses for leadership roles, while applicants with non-English names received less than half that number, at 11.3%. Ta.
While changes like this to break down bias are a terrible reflection on the hiring process, White has encountered other (more positive) strategic decisions. The coach said that it helps him teach his craft to others, and that distinguishing between his legal and professional name (“more like a stage name”) is very helpful.
“A big part of coaching is putting[yourself]out there, and people are very reluctant to do that in the flesh, on their existing socials and platforms, to their existing friends.” Mr. White explained. “Typically, the crutch they lean on is changing their name. As soon as they changed their name, it was like taking off a chain. Especially giving themselves a new look online to undermine their past.” The more established professional type people gave.
Should I change my last name after getting married?
At the end of the day, the only factor that really matters when it comes to name changes is whether the individual wants it or not.
And while people change their names for a variety of reasons, White said the easiest way to reduce disruption to a corporate environment from outside sources is to be open about the decision.
It could be something as simple as posting a “reintroduction” post on social media or notifying people in your email signature that their display name may soon be changing.
he said: “People work with people. They don’t want this professional pretense or performance. They find them impersonal, unempathetic, difficult to connect with. , they say nothing resonates at a higher frequency than being authentic, so if someone goes into a more difficult field like business, it’s going to bring people in in the long run.”
“There are no right or wrong answers,” Vladich reiterated. “This is a very personal decision, but one you should discuss with your family, partner and friends.”
The course has also changed completely, Chaudhary added. This is a necessary conversation that is long overdue.
“The ultimate feminist decision is to have complete choice and be able to change your decision whenever you wish,” the academic said. “When I was a student, the message was: ‘Decide now and be determined.’ There should be flexibility.
“One of the things that’s already happening is that women are coming together and talking in formal and informal settings. I have several Slack Scientists groups dedicated to women. The name change conundrum. is always being discussed. Therefore, the whisper network is working.
“There is a conversation happening among women in science,” she added. “The next step is … to integrate it into mentorship training. It’s actually brought into labs, faculty meetings, research committee meetings.”
