Pew: 79% of married women take husbands’ names

Taking a husband’s surname remains the most common choice among women in opposite-sex marriages, but surveys suggest attitudes and preferences are shifting. Pew found that younger women are more likely than women over 50 to keep their own names, and keeping a surname is also more common among women with postgraduate degrees. Younger adults are more open to alternatives such as creating a combined surname or using each partner’s surname as a middle name, while many unmarried women remain undecided about what they would choose.