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 an...
