Recently, Zoe Saldana and her husband, Marco Perego announced that he took her last name when they wed back in 2013. This sparked public outcry. Some fans noticed the change and asked her about it in an interview. Apparently she didn’t want him to take on her last name, but he was all for it. Some people find this emasculating while others are hailing him as a progressive feminist. I took on JR’s last name when we got married, but that was quite some time ago. Society was less progressive back then. If things were different or if I would have known about all these new last name trends, my last name might be different today. ‘Last name trends?,’ you may be questioning. Yup, these days, young couples are changing things up when it comes to surnames just like Marco and Zoe and I’m all for it. Check out some of the newest trends in taking over last names below.
The Hyphen- The most common last name trend is adding a hyphen in-between both couple’s surnames. New married couples are combining their families. They see it as a way to remain equals while still remaining as one in the sanctity of marriage.
No Last Name Change- These days, it’s not uncommon to find a married woman with a different last name from her husband. With the advent of fourth wave feminism, women aren’t interested in taking on their husband’s last name when getting married, so they stick to their maiden name. They think of taking on their husband’s name as taking on another identity. They find the idea old and antiquated.
Combining- When a married couple has two different last names, things can get tricky when they have kids. So what do they do? They tend combine their names with a hyphen or, sometimes, they create a totally new last name for their child. They often combine their last names without the hyphen to create a sort of hybrid surname. It’s a rising trend so, who knows! Maybe, instead having the country populated by Smith’s and Johnson’s, we’ll be seeing Smison!
