Abstract
Situational last name use was examined in a sample of 600 married women who responded to a mail survey. The sample was selected from the faculty and staff of a state university in the Midwest with over-sampling of women whose last name differed from their husband’s last name. Overall, 12% of married women reported situational last name use. Women from all last name choices (e.g., changed to husband’s, kept birth surname) reported situational surname use, but the most common occurrence of this practice was among hyphenators. Situational users were most likely to use their husband’s last name in family situations and their birth surname in professional situations. Factors that increase situational last name use included full-time employment, higher levels of educational attainment, and an older age at marriage. Situational last name use by married women can be seen as a manifestation of ambiguity over identity with family and non-family roles.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amato, P., & Booth, A. (1991). The consequences of divorce for attitudes toward divorce and gender roles. Journal of Family Issues, 12, 306–322.
Amato, P., & Booth, A. (1995). Changes in gender role attitudes and perceived marital quality. American Sociological Review, 60, 58–66.
Argue, A., Johnson, D. R., & White, L. K. (1999). Age and religiosity: Evidence from a three-wave panel analysis. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 38, 423–435.
Bernard, J. (1981). The female world. New York: Free Press.
Bernard, J. (1982). The future of marriage (2nd ed.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Booth, A., Johnson, D., White, L., & Edwards, J. (1991). Marital instability over the life course: Methodology report and code book for a three wave panel study. Lincoln, NE: Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska.
Brightman, J. (1994). Why wives use their husband’s names. Asmerican Demographics, 16, 9–10.
Duggan, A., Cota, A., & Dion, K. (1993). Taking thy husband’s name: What might it mean? Names, 41, 87–102.
Ellison, C., & Bartkowski, J. (2002). Conservative protestantism and division of labor among married couples. Journal of Family Issues, 23, 950–985.
Etaugh, C., Bridges, J., Cummings-Hill, M., & Cohen, J. (1999). Names can never hurt me: The effects of surname use on perceptions of married women. Psychology of Women Quaraterly, 23, 819–823.
Forbes, G., Adams-Curtis, L., White, K., & Hamm, N. (2002). Perceptions of married women and married men with hyphenated surnames. Sex Roles, 46, 167–175.
Foss, K., & Edson, B. (1989). What’s in a name? Accounts of married women’s name choices. Western Journal of Speech Communication, 53, 356–373.
Fox, J. (1997). Applied regression analysis, linear models, and related methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Grasmick, H. W., Wilcox, L. P., & Bird, S. (1990). The effects of religious fundamentalism and religiosity on preference for traditional family values. Sociological Inquiry, 60, 352–369.
Jensen, L., & Jensen, J. (1993). Family values, religiosity and gender. Psychological Reports, 73, 429–430.
Johnson, D., & Scheuble, L. (1995). Women’s marital naming in two generations: A national study. Journal of Marriage and Family, 57, 724–732.
Johnson, D., & Scheuble, L. (1996, August). Women’s marital name choice: Determinants and effects. Paper Presented at the American Sociological Association, New York, NY.
Johnson, D., & Scheuble, L. (1997, August). What should we call our kids? Choice of children’s surname when the mother and father have different last names. Paper Presented at the American Sociological Association, Toronto, Canada.
Kline, S., Stafford, L., & Mikosovic, J. (1996). Women’s surnames: Decisions, interpretations and association with relational qualities. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 13, 593–617.
Morgan, M. (1987). The impact of religion on gender-role attitudes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11, 301–310.
Pearson, J. C. (1985). Gender and communication. Dubuque, IA: Brown.
Pedersen-Pietersen, L. (1997, March 16). To have and to hyphenate: The marriage name game. New York Times, p. F 11.
Peterson, L., & Donnenwerth, G. (1997). Secularization and the influence of religion on beliefs about premarital sex. Social Forces, 75, 1071–1088.
Ritzer, G. (1996). Sociological theory (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Roscow, I. (1994). Lessons from the museum: Claude Monet and social roles. Gerontologist, 34, 292–298.
Omi, M. (1997). The name of the maiden. Wisconsin’s Women’s Law Journal, 12, 253–299.
Scheuble, L., & Johnson, D. (1993). Marital name change: Plans and attitudes of college students. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55, 747–754.
Stannard, U. (1984). Manners make laws: Married women’s names in the United States. Names, 32, 114–128.
Thompson, L., & Walker, A. (1989). Gender in families: Women and men in marriage, work and parenthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 845–871.
Twenge, J. (1997). Mrs. his name. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 417–429.
Vanderbilt, A. (1972). Amy Vanderbilt’s etiquette: The guide to gracious living. New York: Random House-Doubleday.
Weitzman, L. (1981). The marriage contract: Spouses, lovers and the law. New York: Free Press.
Winship, C., & Radbill, L. (1994). Sampling weights and regression analysis. Sociological Methods and Research, 23, 230–257.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Scheuble, L.K., Johnson, D.R. Married Women’s Situational Use of Last Names: An Empirical Study. Sex Roles 53, 143–151 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-4288-3
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-4288-3