I changed my last name to Paul's when we married. I had a very common last name - there were three of us with the same first and last name in my own hometown. So I figured, why not change it to something less common?I will always be my parents' daughter, no name change could change that, any more than it could change the dent in my chin, the shape of my hands, or the color of my eyes. I was under no pressure from either family regarding my name, by the way.

I believe it is a very personal choice, up to each woman to her own choosing.

I worked with two woman who had always intended to hyphenate their future husband's name with their own. Neither did, because of the last names involved. Rather than becoming Ms. Maxfield-House and sounding like a coffee company, one woman changed hers to her husbands name. The other, rather than becoming Ms. Peck-Chase and sounding like a children's game (duck-duck-goose, anyone?) kept her maiden name.

My mother married at the age of 29, and was working as a reporter for a daily newspaper at the time. She kept her maiden name for a month in the publication, then was listed with both names for a month or so, then dropped her maiden name, once readers had gotten accustomed to the new last name. Othere married women I know kept their maiden name for business purposes, but use their husbands' names outside of work.

I retain my own identity no matter my name, am no one's property!