Skip to main content
Log in

Married Women’s Situational Use of Last Names: An Empirical Study

  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amato, P., & Booth, A. (1995). Changes in gender role attitudes and perceived marital quality. American Sociological Review, 60, 58–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernard, J. (1981). The female world. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernard, J. (1982). The future of marriage (2nd ed.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brightman, J. (1994). Why wives use their husband’s names. Asmerican Demographics, 16, 9–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duggan, A., Cota, A., & Dion, K. (1993). Taking thy husband’s name: What might it mean? Names, 41, 87–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, C., & Bartkowski, J. (2002). Conservative protestantism and division of labor among married couples. Journal of Family Issues, 23, 950–985.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, J. (1997). Applied regression analysis, linear models, and related methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, L., & Jensen, J. (1993). Family values, religiosity and gender. Psychological Reports, 73, 429–430.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D., & Scheuble, L. (1995). Women’s marital naming in two generations: A national study. Journal of Marriage and Family, 57, 724–732.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, M. (1987). The impact of religion on gender-role attitudes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11, 301–310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson, J. C. (1985). Gender and communication. Dubuque, IA: Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritzer, G. (1996). Sociological theory (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roscow, I. (1994). Lessons from the museum: Claude Monet and social roles. Gerontologist, 34, 292–298.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Omi, M. (1997). The name of the maiden. Wisconsin’s Women’s Law Journal, 12, 253–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheuble, L., & Johnson, D. (1993). Marital name change: Plans and attitudes of college students. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55, 747–754.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stannard, U. (1984). Manners make laws: Married women’s names in the United States. Names, 32, 114–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Twenge, J. (1997). Mrs. his name. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 417–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanderbilt, A. (1972). Amy Vanderbilt’s etiquette: The guide to gracious living. New York: Random House-Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weitzman, L. (1981). The marriage contract: Spouses, lovers and the law. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winship, C., & Radbill, L. (1994). Sampling weights and regression analysis. Sociological Methods and Research, 23, 230–257.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laurie K. Scheuble.

Rights and permissions

Reprints 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

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-4288-3

Key Words

Navigation