Talk:Maiden and married names

Naming conventions (people)

France
The section on France is at best misleading.

It is normal for women in France to change their name to that of their husband on marriage. However by contrast with the UK practice they usually change back on divorce (and in fact if they want to continue to use their husbands name they have to have his agreement.)

I have only lived in France for a few months, and new to Wikipedia editing so don't really feel qualified to make the changes yet. If there is a better qualified person out there, please make the edit. Otherwise I will have a go later. Angrhoiel (talk) 14:26, 23 October 2014 (UTC)


 * But what would be misleading in the present article? Your story and the article do not contradict each other, do they? Bever (talk) 22:37, 12 April 2020 (UTC)

Maiden Name is not always Birth Name
(Really sorry if this has been done before, but I couldn't find anything on it in the archive)

The article is very explicit that "maiden name" is synonymous with "birth name" in the opening paragraph, for example: "that name replaces the person's birth surname"

But in many cases, this will not be true - women who were adopted when young will often have a different surname on marriage, and this is what is usually referred to as their "maiden name".

I realise that "Née" and "Né" are often used to indicate Maiden Name, and clearly their meaning relates to birth. But very helpfully this page no longer makes any mention of those terms, and they are treated at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Given_name#Name_at_birth, that issue does not arise here.

The OED says: "the original surname of a married woman who uses her husband's surname name after marriage", which is more ambiguous, so actually better than the article text.

Merriam-Webster is quite explicit: "the surname of a woman before she marries".

So I would like to replace the text with "that name replaces the person's previous surname". I think the parenthetic comments on gender-neutral can probably stand.

Note: The case of a woman who is marrying who currently uses a name from a previous marriage is more complicated - it might warrant more discussion. However, I think the above change helps to include this case too. Neither dictionary gives any indication of a common understanding of this situation.

Hugh.glaser (talk) 12:41, 25 September 2019 (UTC)

Lead section
While I cannot blame the English Wikipedia for emphasizing Anglosaxon countries, the following sentence in the lead stroke me as odd: "In Scotland it is legal and not unusual for a woman to retain her maiden name after marriage". Isn't that legal in England, the United States etc. as well? Bever (talk) 22:42, 12 April 2020 (UTC)

Bullshit bias and ignoring other places
Many African societies including Ethiopia women don’t take their husband’s names. Also it’s important to state Islam doesn’t allow women to change their names to their husbands. Also there are some traditional African societies where children are names only after the mother’s first name where fatherhood isn’t known or known, also where family name doesn’t exist and children are only named after both mother and father’s first names only. The world doesn’t only revolve around Europe or America Nlivataye (talk) 08:24, 17 September 2021 (UTC)


 * That is the case as well in many European countries. But Wikipedia is a collaborative project. If you think that an article is biased because the writers are from an specific part of the world, you are welcome to help improve it. I think it would be best if each section was written by those that know it best. 24.85.172.90 (talk) 02:14, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

Changing names without a legal procedure
I have just removed a bunch of uncited stuff about marriage allowing women to change their names without a legal procedure. This was harped on at some length, so I assume that someone was irritated about the injustice. However, it's nonsense on its face, because getting married (or divorced) is "a legal procedure".

I will not object if you choose to be irritated that there are three different "legal procedures" for changing names in common use (marrying, divorcing, and petitioning the court), and that only one of those legal procedures is available to people who are not simultaneously seeking a change in marital status. I only object to saying that marriage and divorce aren't also legal procedures. WhatamIdoing (talk) 05:26, 27 April 2022 (UTC)

Why women changed their surname after marriage
I think this is a common phenomenom in english speaking world. I dont know the situtiation in the usa. I think woman changes her surname to match her husband surname encourages discrimination. Is there any statistics that men changed their name after marriage. How much precentage men took their wife surname. 2404:8000:1027:85F6:3510:36E:2A0A:6A5C (talk) 17:25, 23 January 2023 (UTC)