What's in a Name?

Oh changing names.  Such a hot topic these days, it seems.  Is it feminist to keep your name?  To change your name?  Or just to make a decision based on what is best for you?  I believe that everyone's situation is different, and you should decide based on what works for you.

The other night, my future mother-in-law was booking flights for a trip for a few months after the wedding, and called to verify what my name would be at that time.  It was so weird.  I have a flight confirmation for my future name now!  I just have to make sure I get everything changed quickly after the wedding, but I have a couple months.  Also, how lucky are we that we get to get married, go on a honeymoon, and then go on another vacation just a couple months later?!

I've always known I would change my last name.  I mean, yeah, I grew up with this name, and it is fairly short and easy to spell and pronounce, but it isn't that important for me to keep it.  My current name is somewhat common, and there is a less than desirable movie character that shares the name.  In fact, my grandparents shortened their original last name to make the one I have today, and the only people I am related to with the name are my grandparents and immediate family.  So the name is kind of fake, and I get lots of facebook messages asking if we're related, so I won't be sad to see that go.

My future name is pretty common too.  There is another last name that is more common and very similar with just an extra letter in the middle.  I already see how often the name gets mispronounced and misspelled, and I am not looking forward to having two confusing names like that (my first name is always either misspelled or mispronounced.  It isn't hard!).  Plus the new name is a little longer.  When I went to reserve my new email address, because it is so common I had to add not only my first name but also my middle initial!  It is a freaking long email address...

Speaking of middle names, I am keeping my current one.  My mom dropped her middle name and her maiden name is now her middle name, but she didn't like her middle name.  I love my middle name!  Especially with my first name.  I even include it in my signature.

Okay, I'm no Elizabeth Bennet, but I might look somehting like this when I practice my new signature!  Image from Pride and Prejudice, via flurtsite.com

The last thing I've been thinking about is changing my signature.  Currently, my signature is a quick scribble, not even close to legible.  Should I work on making my new signature readable?  It is still crazy unnatural to sign the new last name, but I suppose it'll just take time.

So my reasons for changing aren't really that big or important, but I just feel like it is the right thing for me.  I am excited to start our family with us both sharing the same name.  It will definitely be weird for awhile, though, but I'm trying to work on getting used to it now.