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Do Wedding Bells Cause Last Name Hell?

Written by: Gayle Kesten

Article Overview: How much of your professional reputation is tied into your last name? Read on for some factors you should consider, and what other working women decided to do, before changing your last name when you get married.

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Do Wedding Bells Cause Last Name Hell?

Should you change your last name when you get married?

Having gone through the name-changing process, I can attest that it's a headache. From a professional standpoint, the switcheroo made life difficult -- at least temporarily -- from an e-mail standpoint, but eventually my co-workers and industry contacts in the publishing world caught on. And since we're going back 12 years, I had way fewer online accounts tied to my maiden name.

Indeed, I went cold turkey. Others, like health-policy analyst Leslie Levine, took it step-by-step, first using her maiden name as her middle name to help her network of contacts transition, she told the Associated Press. Another good tip: She asked her IT staff to create a bounce e-mail from her old name/address to her married name.

Another factor that comes into play: how much your reputation is tied into your name. As an editor, I wasn't concerned with a byline like my reporter colleagues. The tie-in to my identity wasn't as strong as, say, a consultant, saleswoman or lawyer with clients. Similarly, what if you work in the health-care industry with a long following of patients? Related, what if your name is part of your company's name? Pink magazine cites Tammy Huber-Wilkins, who "had already built a reputation as Dr. Huber [and] didn't want to lose her maiden name." She decided to hyphenate -- an increasingly popular option, according to Kelly Utt-Grubb, who runs NameCounsel, a service that helps customers make their name-change decision.

For some more views on whether you should or shouldn't change your name, read the comments that follow a recent post on ArizonaMoms.com, particularly the one from Lisa Schneider Cipriano.

Where do you stand on the matter -- to change or not to change? What has been your experience, professionally speaking? What else do working women need to consider?

And if you do decide to make the switch, better plan on taking a personal day to punch through this 16-point list, courtesy of About.com/Marriage, to update your information:
Social Security Administration (you can do so online here)
Driver's license
Automobile registration and insurance
Work related information
Insurance policies
Bank accounts
Investment accounts
Utility bills
Post office
Credit cards
Passport
Medical records Wills, legal documents
Organization and church memberships
Voter registration
Landlord or mortgage company

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Home > Women-Entrepreneurs > Gayle Kesten > Do Wedding Bells Cause Last Name Hell
Article Tags: byline, change decision, co workers, cold turkey, e mail, grubb, health care industry, health policy analyst, huber, leslie levine, lisa schneider, maiden name, middle name, pink magazine, professional standpoint, saleswoman, switcheroo, tammy, utt, wilkins

About the Author: Gayle Kesten
RSS for Gayle's articles - Visit Gayle's website

Gayle Kesten is a writer and editor who blogs about IT-related topics for small businesses on SmallBizResource.com. Kesten’s "Wednesday's Woman" series profiles businesswomen of interest, trends, research and many other issues that matter most to working women.

Click here to visit Gayle's website
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More from Gayle Kesten
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Tips Before Putting Your Honey on the Payroll
CareerDefining Moments
Do Wedding Bells Cause Last Name Hell
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Re: Review My: Trump 4 President Site Re: Review My: Trump 4 President Site - Thanks Michelle and GT, Now that the Royal Wedding has concluded, much more attention should go back to this in the media I would think even though I just heard on radio that less American's watched the wedding than even the soccer championships which wasn't that many. Thanks again for the nice comments. Much work to do along with a kazillion other project.
Partner with them Partner with them - Welcome to the Group TMR, Some ideas of people you can partner with for the Custom Napkins: - Wedding Planners - Photographers - Annual General Meetings for Corporations - Pageants - Hotels - Elite Restaurants - Elite Spas
Re: Did you buy into the iPhone 3G craze? Re: Did you buy into the iPhone 3G craze? - BTW, on the whole cellphone thing. I heard that Bell (most probably Telus too since they share Bells network) will be moving over to a GSM network like Rogers - that should level the playing field and give you access to a whole range of cool unlocked phones. Eventually Rogers, Bell and Telus will be moving over to new standard that is a level up from GSM....LTE I think?!? Anyways I believe the Canadian government is also making space for a new provider by selling some frequencys. Exciting times ahead for communications in Canada and maybe we'll start seeing the competitive rates they have in the US?


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