UPDATE In today's "Ask Amy" advice column, a woman wrote in who has been married for 18 months, and she is still changing her name on various records. She wishes she had kept her maiden name. She advises every woman who is faced with this decision to: Open your purse or wallet and list every card in it. List every one of your online shopping accounts. List every professional, personal and social organization you belong to. Review your bank accounts. Identify the vendors for every bill you find. Finally, collect every legal document you have, for your home, car, insurance, etc. This is the number of companies, people and government agencies you will have to contact if you decide to change your name. And you can bet that a few of them will get it wrong! Yet ironically, in a previous column, Amy Dickinson reported that more and more American women prefer to change their names after marriage. In the 1990s, 23% of them kept their maiden names, but in the 2000s only 18% did.
Only 18 months? Wait a couple years when people you don't want to contact call asking your old name. Pretty handy.
