Women's Marital Naming in Two Generations: A National Study

Little is known about the prevalence and determinants of women's name choice at marriage. This article analyzes nationally representative survey data on two generations—a sample of 929 married persons and a sample of 180 of their married adult offspring. Only 1.4% of the women in the main sample and 4.6% of their offspring made a nonconventional last name choice. About a fourth retained their birth surname as their middle name. Major determinants of naming choices were (a) region, (b) gender role traditionalism and wife's career orientation, and (c) educational attainment. The marital naming choice of the mother had a strong effect on her daughter's naming but no effect on the name used by her son's spouse.