How does name change impact professional identity?

Our surname can be an important link to our cultural identity, family heritage, and connection with earlier generations. So, it is a bit surprising, that 80% of American women in opposite sex relationships still take their husband’s name according to a recent Pew Research report.

The topic is important for mental health professionals in training because three out of four psychology graduate students are female and half are in their late 20s, which overlaps with the median age of first marriage for women, about 28-years-old. The topic is no less important for women going through divorce, after establishing their professional identity.

When I got married in my early twenties, I had not yet finished graduate school. I took my husband’s name and used my birth name as a middle name. My professional identity was in the earliest stages of formation. But surname change was still a hassle and required changes on my driving license, passport, student identification cards, banking, social security card, not to mention email addresses, credit reporting agencies, social media profiles, and credit cards.

People may use a hyphenated name or adopt their spouses’ last name legally but maintain their original surname for professional purposes with the goal of keeping a separate professional identity.

This can come with its own set of complications at work. For example, in a large organization, it can be challenging to maintain both a legal name for human resource purposes and a different name for email and other professional identifiers.

It may be easier to maintain two different names in the context of psychotherapy private practice compared to an organizational or academic setting. Clinicians might find it helpful to have a different professional surname because it can help maintain personal privacy when working as a therapist.
On the other hand, women in academic settings who publish under two names may struggle to tie their publication list together. Grant reviewers may not take the time necessary to realize that grants obtained under a different last name are those of the grant applicant.

Name change following divorce has the potential to be even more impactful on professional identity. After years of marriage, I did not immediately change my name following divorce.

I wished I could go by a single name, but sadly, Ellen will never be a cool and trendy mononym as say, Cher or Pink. Name change at work seemed to be the equivalent of sending out a divorce announcement to colleagues and clients, so I avoided it for a while.

Eventually, I did change my surname, and a surprising number of people congratulated me, thinking that I had recently married! I often accepted their congratulations, with the goal of avoiding an unnecessary, awkward conversation.

I had not anticipated the degree to which my name change impacted my professional identity. I had authored books, manuscripts, and grant applications under one name. I had served on boards, functioned in professional organizations, chaired a statewide coalition, and given presentations under that name. My clients knew me by my name. While the name no longer suited me, I had to include it as an informal middle name for a couple of years to ensure continuity in my professional identity.

On the other hand, there were unexpected benefits to a name change. For someone who hates social media and wants to go off the grid, a name change can give a person a level of anonymity comparable only to going into witness protection!

It also became easier for me to identify cyber criminals’ intent on phishing via email or text message or fraudulently applying for credit under my old name.

We continue to live in a patriarchal society but have advanced since the era when women were only known as “Mrs. Husband’s Full Name.” I raised a daughter who has my birth name as her middle name and her father’s name as her surname. She kept her birth name when she married. If people have a choice, there is no wrong choice.

Nonetheless, name change, whether because of marriage, divorce or for another reason, may have a substantial impact on professional identity.