For those of you guys that do not know, back in September of 2019. I married my long-term partner. After being together for years, in the end we decided that we loved one another enough to tie the knot. We were committed to one another even though neither of us had dreamed of being married one day. We wanted to make that public commitment to one another and tie the knot.
Our wedding was individual, to say the least. We went for a ceremony that was super small with only 10 people in attendance and then we had a huge party, which was as far away from a wedding reception as you could possibly get. So, Am I Glad I Changed My Name?
I guess the first thing to touch on is my reasoning for wanting to change my name and it was really for a new start. When our wedding came about both my husband and I were making many positive changes in our life. To change my name just seemed like the perfect thing to do in order to set in all of the changes and move onto much happier times. There was a small part of me that did pop into my head that if we were ever to have children we would all have the same name, but honestly, in this day and age I don’t think that matters at all, it was just a case of making another positive change.
Straight after the wedding, it was super exciting whenever anybody would call me by my last night. I think for months after when I was at work people would constantly call me by my last name and it was just an exciting time because it was so new and special that it linked me with my husband. Over time, it just became the new normal and that special edge seemed to slip away and then it became very apparent my old name had literally disappeared, which was just a bizarre feeling for me and something that even today, I really struggle with.
I guess that the thing for me is that I have such a connection to my maiden name. My family is absolutely everything to me. In the area where I live many people know of my family. Even more people have at least heard of the name. I guess that in changing my name it felt like I had cut myself out of the family. Even though I had 100% hadn’t. I kind of felt like I wasn’t one of them anymore and I found it quite upsetting. I never thought that I would feel this way. A name is just a word. But it is more than that. To me, it is a deep family connection and it has felt very strange ever since I changed my name.
The other thing that really sticks in my head is that I am the last one in my family with my maiden name. That is a real stickler for me. I think that my family has been so much. And our family name has stretched so far back. For it to just stop with me. Honestly, I wonder if I should have hyphenated my name. Then I could have passed that down to any potential children that I may have in order to keep the name going.
I know that so many people out there will find this blog post a little silly. It is only a name and I completely understand that. I adore that I have the same surname as my husband. It makes me feel like we have started our own family. It makes me swell with pride. One day have a family of our own to carry on that name. But there is a pang of guilt within me that makes me feel like I have turned my back on my family and ditched the old name.
Let me know in the comments down below what you think. Have you changed your name? Did it make you feel any kind of way? Or would you change your name in the future?
