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In the beginning, it\u2019s a wobbly scribble on the front of a schoolbook, or called out in attendance. Later in life it\u2019s displayed at the top of a CV, stamped on a driver\u2019s license and\u2014if you\u2019re lucky\u2014signed on the deed to a home.<\/p>\n
But some people might change that moniker without a full appreciation of the impact the decision could have\u2014for better or worse.<\/p>\n
In the U.S., 80% of married women in opposite-sex relationships take their husband\u2019s surname, according to a study from Pew Research<\/a> published last year. It\u2019s a trend which has showed little signs of fluctuating over the past couple of decades, though younger generations\u2014those aged between 18 and and 49\u2014were twice as likely as those aged 50+ to keep their original surname.<\/p>\n That being said, 73% of women under the age of 50 chose to take on their partner\u2019s surname.<\/p>\n And for each who does, the decision is deeply personal\u2014and often complicated by professional considerations\u2014says Michael Bradicich, the owner of MissNowMrs.com, a service that has helped over 400,000 brides through the name-change process. While some people \u201cjump in with both feet\u201d and little consideration, Bradicich told Fortune<\/em>, those who trade on their name often take a pause. <\/p>\n After all, \u201ctheir name is part of their career.\u201d<\/p>\n Those who have decided to change their name\u2014or perhaps separate their \u2018professional\u2019 and legal names\u2014may come up against snags they never saw coming, experts told Fortune<\/em>. <\/p>\n For example, women in academics struggle to collate their work between their maiden and married names\u2014and they risk losing critical funding, opportunities or promotion as a result. Likewise, professionals who have gained certifications or licenses under a previous name must ensure paperwork is carried out swiftly in order to keep practicing, while those with a valuable digital footprint may lose an element of their personal brand.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also reputation and (hopefully) goodwill attached to the name that appears on one\u2019s LinkedIn<\/a> page or email byline\u2014recognition that could take time to rebuild.<\/p>\n However, there\u2019s also a raft of upsides to a surname change. It could mean outmaneuvering bias built into recruiting or application systems when it comes to race, age and gender, or adding a layer of privacy to your personal life.<\/p>\n For some looking to start afresh\u2014be it for personal reasons or a move in career path\u2014a name change can also act as a digital reset. On top of that, it also provides an opportunity to build rapport with colleagues and customers.<\/p>\n And, of course, there\u2019s the most important reason: a person wants to change their name simply because it makes them happier.<\/p>\n The experts Fortune<\/em> spoke to made one thing absolutely clear: there is no right or wrong choice. An informed decision, however, is preferable.<\/p>\n Bala Chaudhary had never given much thought to her name in a professional sense\u2014other than when she could add \u2018Dr\u2019 to the front of it\u2014until she heard a male peer complaining about a fellow scientist changing their surname after marriage.<\/p>\n Chaudhary, who works in Dartmouth University\u2019s Environmental Studies department, was at the time mentored by a female scientist who she describes as a \u201cgiant in the field.\u201d While visiting an outside research lab, Chaudhary encountered a male colleague complaining that her mentor\u2019s papers appeared under both a married and maiden name, making it less convenient to source the work.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was surprising to hear such a well-respected, brilliant scientist talked about negatively because of her name. And because of a change in her name that is so common\u2014the most common phenomenon\u2014it was like: \u2018Of all the things that women in science have to deal with? This seems like the most trivial,’\u201d Chaudhary told Fortune.<\/em><\/p>\n Chaudhary\u2019s experience\u2014that there\u2019s \u201ca lot of pressure\u201d to not change your surname\u2014tracks with the findings from Pew Research which found the more academically experienced a woman is, the less likely she tended to be to change her name. Some 83% of women who have a college degree or less changed their names after marriage, compared to 79% of those with a bachelor\u2019s degree\u2014and at postgraduate degree level, this falls further to 68%.<\/p>\n A surname change also advertises a shift in an individual\u2019s private life which could prompt a series of assumptions. Chaudhary highlighted this might be a conversation women are keen to steer clear of.<\/p>\n A common belief is that after marriage a couple will want to start a family\u2014which data shows is somewhat the case\u2014beginning a well-reported domino-effect regarding women\u2019s careers. <\/p>\n A 2023 study from the Centre of Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> found more than half (53%) of births between 2015 and 2019 occurred to married women, with a further \u224825% occurring to women in cohabiting situations. The research by Dr Gladys M. Martinez and Dr Kimberly Daniels also confirmed 20% of married women have their second child within 24 months of the birth of their first.<\/p>\n Of course, not all women who marry and change their surname will have kids: they are increasingly happy with a DINK (double income, no kids) lifestyle<\/a> or are childless not by choice. But the notion remains that outsiders might\u2014incorrectly or not\u2014draw conclusions about how that woman\u2019s career will progress if she is a wife and by association, a future mother.<\/p>\n This data is demonstrated in the real world, Chaudhary said, by the fact women even have to consider the ramifications of sharing personal details: \u201cI have many respected women scientist mentors who would not say a peep about their personal lives, ever, because it was always on their mind of how they would be perceived professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n In his many years of working with new brides, one thing has become clear to MissNowMrs.com\u2019s Bradicich: depth of career can influence how much of a problem a name change presents.<\/p>\n Bradicich launched MissNowMrs.com in 2006 after watching a friend struggle with the mountain of paperwork the name change process entailed. In the near-two decades since, Bradicich and his team have helped more than 400,000 women with the same issue and said a distinct pattern arises.<\/p>\n \u201cFor somebody who\u2019s younger\u2014maybe they\u2019re at college or haven\u2019t started a significant career yet, it really is just government forms that need to be tackled,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt\u2019s a matter of making sure they\u2019re done directly and in the right order but that\u2019s very much a procedural problem.\u201d<\/p>\n But he continued: \u201cOnce you move into a professional world there\u2019s a lot more variables. You have to change your name with payroll, once you do that it sets the ball rolling with company emails changing, and then you have to worry about professional certifications and licensing\u2014all of that needs to change to stay consistent, otherwise you\u2019re going to run into problems. Depth of professional career is a big factor.\u201d<\/p>\n The impact per experience also leads a corresponding awareness of what a changed moniker entails, though individuals still find themselves getting caught out, added Bradicich.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s only at the far end of the professional group where they are trading on their name, that their name is part of their career, that they consider it,\u201d he told Fortune<\/em>.\u00a0\u201cWhen you get away from that I think there\u2019s not a lot of consideration, people jump in with both feet.<\/p>\n \u201cThe place that we see people haven\u2019t considered is when they\u2019re traveling, and start the process without considering how long it\u2019s going to take.\u00a0You get travel documents, passports, driver\u2019s licenses that don\u2019t match and that creates all kind of hassle.\u201d<\/p>\n A name change can not only hit \u2018reset\u2019 in a chronically online world, but also adds a layer of privacy Jamie White, an Ireland-based life coach and business mentor told Fortune<\/em>.<\/p>\n White, who has guest lectured at his nation\u2019s top universities such as Trinity College and Dublin City University, is increasingly seeing individuals using their name \u201cstrategically.\u201d <\/p>\n He explained: \u201cIn a digital age where everything is tracked, by the time somebody gets to a professional level or perhaps their career\u2019s evolved, there\u2019s a whole track record.\u00a0So it can be very advantageous to say \u2018new career, new name, new me.\u2019 It can be a digital whitewash.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a useful tool for individuals looking for a bit more anonymity online\u2014just ask the teachers trying to keep their social media profiles hidden from the prying eyes of students.<\/p>\n With a longer-term lens, a name change could also provide a \u2018hack\u2019 around biases unfortunately built into education and hiring systems. For example, a 2023 study out of the University of Michigan<\/a> examining 30 million records found that when students with a surname in the back half of the alphabet (K to Z) were graded alphabetically, they got lower scores than if they had been marked randomly.<\/p>\n Likewise students with initials earlier in the alphabet (A to E) tended to grade higher than the random sample. While the study states that this bias has a \u201cprominent long-term effect on a student\u2019s career\u201d, further hurdles have been discovered in recruitment platforms. <\/p>\nUnexpected consequences<\/h2>\n
The most common phenomenon<\/h2>\n
\u2018Thinking about kids?\u2019<\/h2>\n
Career \u2018depth\u2019<\/h2>\n
Digital detox<\/h2>\n