Marital Name Changing Attitudes and Plans of College Students: Comparing Change Over Time and Across Regions

Abstract

This study examines time period and regional effects on U.S. college students’ attitudes and plans regarding marital naming. Data were gathered at a Midwestern college in 1990 and 2006 and at an Eastern university in 2006 (N=867). No time period effect was identified for marital name plans in the Midwest samples. Women were neither more nor less likely to plan to retain their birth name in 1990 as compared to 2006. A time period effect was found for attitudes: Midwest women in 2006 were more likely to say a woman was more committed to the marriage if she took her husband's last name as compared to Midwest women in 1990. This indicates that women in the Midwest may have become more conservative over time. We also found regional differences: women in the East were significantly more likely than women in the Midwest to plan to keep their birth surname upon marriage. Findings suggest a trend toward more conservative attitudes over time and location although plans, perhaps due to the rareness of maintaining a birth surname upon marriage, have not changed.

Marital Naming Plans among Students at Four Evangelical Colleges

“…Nearly three-fourths of American adults agree that it is generally better if a woman changes her name when married and half believe that marital name change for women should be legally required [11]. Even college students show remarkable consistency over the past two decades in their marital naming intentions [12].…”

“…College campuses are popular sites for studying marital naming patterns [12,19,22]. College serves as a formative setting in which a young person sharpens long-term goals and preferences related to work and family [34].…”

“…These percentages are very close to the percentages for female students in our sample, in which 81.4% planned to take their husband's last name and 9.0% planned to hyphenate. Male students at the same Midwestern college and at a large Eastern university were even more prone to traditional marital naming [12]. In 1990, 97.9% of men interviewed at the small Midwestern college planned to keep their family surname, if they married; sixteen years later on the same campus, 96.9% of men interviewed gave the same response [12].…”

“…Male students at the same Midwestern college and at a large Eastern university were even more prone to traditional marital naming [12]. In 1990, 97.9% of men interviewed at the small Midwestern college planned to keep their family surname, if they married; sixteen years later on the same campus, 96.9% of men interviewed gave the same response [12]. A 2006 convenience sample of 369 students from a large Eastern university found that 100% of male respondents planned to keep their birth surname, if they married [12].…”

“…In 1990, 97.9% of men interviewed at the small Midwestern college planned to keep their family surname, if they married; sixteen years later on the same campus, 96.9% of men interviewed gave the same response [12]. A 2006 convenience sample of 369 students from a large Eastern university found that 100% of male respondents planned to keep their birth surname, if they married [12]. By comparison, 85.2% of men in our sample intended to keep their birth surname when married.…”