About 70% of Americans say a bride should take her husband’s name, according to one poll. Respondents who were in favor of a woman changing her last name after getting married generally stated they felt it was better for establishing the marriage as a family rather than as individuals. People who said a woman should keep her own last name after getting married tended to emphasize the importance of the bride’s already-established identity, such as in her career.
More about marriage traditions:
Nearly half of those polled said the US government should make it mandatory for a bride to take her husband’s last name.
The practice of a bride taking her husband’s last name in the US dates to the early 1800s when the doctrine of coverture gave all of the wife’s legal rights to her husband.
Religion might play a part in the likelihood of a bride taking her husband’s last name, as more than half of all women who have non-religious ceremonies keep their own last names, one study showed.