Last Name

Sometimes I have random thoughts. Today's is about whether or not I will change my last name when I get married. I have always said that I would, but now I'm not so sure. The older I get… wait… no… scratch that… the further I get in my career, the less sure of this I become. I will publish papers with the last name “Hartman” and when I go on to get jobs etc. they will want to know what I have published. If there is a name change in the middle of that, it has the potential of being a bit confusing. One option will be to hyphenate my last name but that’s a lot of work. Or what if I marry a guy who has a hyphenated name already… I can’t have a triple hyphen! I also know ladies who keep their maiden at work only and in every other aspect of their lives have their married name. My mom moved her maiden name to be her middle name, but that still doesn’t help me much when I publish.

I guess if the guy I marry is adamant about me taking his last name and it’s his way or the highway, I’ll take his last name… even if it’s something horrendous. But what if he doesn’t care? I don’t know what I will do. I think I will take his last name. I don’t want classic American tradition to be lost just because I am an overly-educated female. Tradition, after all, is important. But if I’m 35 when I get married and quite established, I don’t know if I will be able to part with “Hartman”. Hmmm… we shall see.