Married - changing surname

Polkadot9

I have recently got married and my husband has a double-barrelled surname and this is the name on the marriage certificate. When changing my name officially, for example passport, driving license, bank etc, do I need to take the whole double-barrelled name or can I take just the last part of his name? This would take the name from 18 characters to 6 characters.

Tia

Carrot007

Take the name.


Don't take the name


Make a new name.


Whatever you like.

kimplus8

its completely up to you.
I did take my ex husbands name and changed it when we got divorced. If I were to marry again I would retain my maiden name.
you do whatever feels right for you, its a name that will reflect you and you will be called it for the rest of your life probably so its important that you are comfortable with it.

Polkadot9

I say this only because I went to start changing my name, went into one bank and was told that I have to take the whole double barrelled surname name unless I change it by deed poll. Does anyone know if this is the case everywhere?

trailingspouse

Yes, it's true. Our society assumes that a woman will take her husband's name on marriage. It also accepts that a woman might not change her name at all. But if you want to do something other than either of those two options, you need to do it by deed poll.


My daughter (full name Daughter X-Y) married Mr Z. She wanted to keep part of the double-barrelled name as a middle name (I guess she thought a double-barrelled middle name would be a bit 'much'), so changed her name to Daughter X Z by deed poll.

TonyMMM

Polkadot9 wrote: »

I say this only because I went to start changing my name, went into one bank and was told that I have to take the whole double barrelled surname name unless I change it by deed poll. Does anyone know if this is the case everywhere?

That's complete rubbish .... you have every right to use whatever name you choose. The problem is (as you have found) that some organisations are reluctant to accept that.

But - they are correct that if you are changing to a name other than the one your husband is using, which you seem to want to do, then the marriage certificate is irrelevant as "evidence" of the change.

Should you have children together you will have to decide on the surname your children will have, so it makes sense to come to some agreement now.

Legally you don't need a deed poll (which is just a signed and witnessed statement saying "my name is now ....") , but it can make it much easier to get the change accepted by officialdom.

maman

TonyMMM wrote: »

That's complete rubbish .... you have every right to use whatever name you choose. The problem is (as you have found) that some organisations are reluctant to accept that.

But - they are correct that if you are changing to a name other than the one your husband is using, which you seem to want to do, then the marriage certificate is irrelevant as "evidence" of the change.

Should you have children together you will have to decide on the surname your children will have, so it makes sense to come to some agreement now.

Legally you don't need a deed poll (which is just a signed and witnessed statement saying "my name is now ....") , but it can make it much easier to get the change accepted by officialdom.

Unfortunately, most of the online information seems to be produced by the deed poll office so naturally argues that you should use that.


It's true that in your day to day life you can call yourself whatever you like but for official documents (passports, driving licence, bank accounts etc.) a deed poll may be necessary unless you keep your maiden name or the one (double barrelled in this case) on the marriage certificate.


It does seem a bit odd to me that OP wants to just use part of her DH's name but that's her choice. I suppose it depends on whether it's important enough to her to pay make it 'official'.


Slightly off topic but I've noticed a big increase in the number of people in the media with double barrelled surnames lately. It seems especially prevalent with footballers and athletes. I'm assuming because their parents are unmarried and they want to acknowledge both of them. I wonder what it says on their birth certificates?

lika_86

maman wrote: »

Slightly off topic but I've noticed a big increase in the number of people in the media with double barrelled surnames lately. It seems especially prevalent with footballers and athletes. I'm assuming because their parents are unmarried and they want to acknowledge both of them. I wonder what it says on their birth certificates?

Why make that assumption? Why not assume their parents are married and they want to acknowledge both? I work with someone, let's call him Mr A who married Miss B, Miss B then became Mrs B-A and their children also took B-A as a surname. I imagine it will only become more common as women reject the assumption that they will take their husband's name.

I assume that their birth certificates reflect their name. Why wouldn't they?

emsywoo123

maman wrote: »

Slightly off topic but I've noticed a big increase in the number of people in the media with double barrelled surnames lately. It seems especially prevalent with footballers and athletes. I'm assuming because their parents are unmarried and they want to acknowledge both of them. I wonder what it says on their birth certificates?

My children and I have the same surname. When I marry next year, I want to acknowledge my new husband's name, but also feel (for me) it is important to keep the link I have to my children's name. So he and I are double barelling our surnames, and my children are keeping theirs.

TonyMMM

Double barrelling is fine, but can cause issues later on ...

A close friend/colleague of mine double barrelled when he married 30+years ago, which was quite unusual at the time. Recently his daughter Miss A-B met and married Mr C-D and they decided to keep their own surnames. Not unusal these days, but then they had a child and had to decide on a surname for them to have (A-B-C-D not being very practical ?) which caused some really big family disagreements.

So in the end they both decided to drop their double names completely and all took the single C (dad's paternal family) surname - which of course then really upset her whole side of the family.

Gets very complicated !

Out,_Vile_Jelly

TonyMMM wrote: »

Double barrelling is fine, but can cause issues later on ...

A close friend/colleague of mine double barrelled when he married 30+years ago, which was quite unusual at the time. Recently his daughter Miss A-B met and married Mr C-D and they decided to keep their own surnames. Not unusal these days, but then they had a child and had to decide on a surname for them to have (A-B-C-D not being very practical ?) which caused some really big family disagreements.

So in the end they both decided to drop their double names completely and all took the single C (dad's paternal family) surname - which of course then really upset her whole side of the family.

Gets very complicated !

Spanish speaking countries have coped with multiple surnames for ages; four is common. They generally choose one to be known by.