It seems that women are on the verge of abandoning the custom of taking a man’s surname once they get married, and as Adam Peaty and Brooklyn Beckham have shown, it’s starting to become popular to use double barrel surnames instead.
For decades, it’s always been tradition that when a couple get married, the wife takes on the husbands name – so why are men going against the grain and taking the woman’s name too?
We’ve seen it recently with Adam Peaty and Brooklyn Beckham, who have both incorporated their new spouse’ name into their own, becoming with Adam marrying Holly Ramsay and becoming Ramsay Peaty and Brooklyn marrying Nicola Peltz, and becoming Peltz Beckham.
But are they becoming modern men and axing all types of tradition? Or are they making a stance against their families? Both men, very publicly, have been involved in bitter and toxic feuds with their families. Etiquette expert Jo Hayes has told Daily Mirror she belives this is a “defiant stance” to their families.
READ MORE: Adam Peaty’s ‘secret turmoil’ over name change as new wedding details emerge
Brooklyn and Adam have undoubtedly been in the news recently, and Jo believes that this is one of the reasons they both chose to adopt their wives’ surnames after getting married.
She continued, “I suspect this decision has a number of fairly obvious reasons.” It’s also quite obvious that both men chose to distance themselves from their families of origin, to clearly establish a new family unit with their spouse, as Brooklyn Beckham has previously stated, and he did it “be different,” and because the names looked “very cool together.”
She noted, however, that they didn’t adopt their wives’ names and didn’t completely change their own surnames. Instead, they adopted a new double-barrelled surname. However, Jo, an expert on etiquette, said it’s not inappropriate despite the controversy that some may have.
According to research from Guides For Brides, the debate over changing your surname after marriage is quickly gaining momentum. They discovered that more women are choosing to stick to their own family name (16%) as opposed to the more traditional route of adopting their new spouse’s name.
More men are now (35% more likely to change their last name to their spouses’) after getting married, Jo noted, and this trend is growing because “many women choose not to have their husbands’ names when they get married. This is because there are a number of other, frequently very reasonable, reasons.
They already have successful careers and a strong professional identity, so changing their surname, at least in professional circles, could have an impact on their professional “brand.”
“Or they just want to keep their maiden name because they have a strong bond with it.” Sometimes they adopt their husband’s name as “official” (for example). legal or in accordance with official documents, etc. ), but still use their maiden name on a daily or professional level. Or the wife adopts her husband’s surname and changes her maiden name to a “middle name” instead.
Jo said she is “for anything that fosters optimal unity within a marriage” when it comes to couples choosing their future names. For all parties involved, including husband, wife, and any/all of their children, the better.
However, that same family legacy is significant. The “traditional” practice of wives adopting the husband’s name served this purpose by establishing a strong, clearly defined family identity and unit, with all family members, including children, sharing the same name. while keeping a strong family legacy and lineage.
As these couples have done, establishing a double-barrelled surname together serves the purpose of establishing a strong family unit and new “identity.” She points out, however, that this practice has a limited sense of “sustainability.”
Jo remarked, “This could only be practiced for a limited number of generations without it getting out of hand.” I enjoy the idea that all children in a family adopt the wife’s maiden name as their middle name (or at least one of their middle names), regardless of whether the wife adopts the husband’s name (officially or not).
By having one “official” last name that can be passed down through generations, keeping things very simple and sustainable.
