Is It Necessary To Change Surname After Marriage?

Is it necessary to change surname after marriage? While the legal answer is a definite no, the scornful looks society throws your way if you don’t change your surname almost demands otherwise. Suddenly, the strength of your marriage now solely relies on this one decision, that’s designed to make the woman feel out of place.

In our society, changing surname after marriage signifies commitment. As though the woman’s devotion to the marriage can only be judged through if she’s changed her name or not. The husband’s commitment, on the other hand, is never questioned.

Regardless of what society says, my opinions on the subject are clear. As I share my experience with changing surname after marriage, I hope you’ll get a better perspective to answer the question, “Is it necessary to change surname after marriage?”

My Ordeal With Changing Surname After Marriage

At the marriage registrar’s office in Bengaluru, the man at the desk asked me, “What should I write as your surname?” I looked around at hundreds of couples waiting for their marriage certificates, some clicking pictures outside, some getting their identities photocopied as page after page tumbled out of the photocopier. Shakespeare from my literature classes echoed in the corners of my mind saying ‘what’s in a name?’. Before I could answer, my husband added,  “Please keep her maiden name.”

I smiled. I had a winner on my hands – a feminist, a proud upholder of women’s identity and self-respect. That’s when he leaned over and whispered, “Who’s going to get everything changed in the passport and pan card, let’s just keep it as it is.”

The feminist ideal crashed and I thanked the snail-paced work at government offices that helped me keep my maiden name. Otherwise, I would have been a Narang instead of Kewalya. I am a Pushkarna Brahman from Rajasthan married into a Punjabi family. On the map of India, the two states are not that far apart, but in reality, they might as well be chalk and cheese.

And a healthy marriage is the best optician, one that provides you with the perfect glasses, microscopic even, to help you go down to the last drop of gotra highlighting the very differences that love had relegated to the remote corners of oblivion.

So there we were eight years ago, in the office, chalk and cheese saving my maiden name. Frankly, I didn’t care. It just didn’t matter then. And over the years, my resolve has only strengthened. This changing/not changing name business is overrated. I’ll tell you why.

Why name change after marriage shouldn’t be a big deal

The answer is cloves. Yes, that pungent Indian spice, the one in your toothpaste; the one that is added to a pot of biryani to bring its flavor out. It definitely brought the flavor out in my marriage.

This clove also happens to be a secret weapon my mom uses for all her ailments. Be it numbness/pain in the legs, toothaches, headache, nausea, cold or gastric trouble. Believe me, the clove, along with carom seeds and ginger, covers every disease in my mom’s medical dictionary. I’ve inherited this medicinal knowledge from her, practiced it, and survived many a night away from mom.

The other night, after a heavy dinner, my husband complained of pain in his chest and he immediately asked me, “Can you give me a couple of cloves?” I did and within minutes, he felt lighter and resumed his television viewing.

That brought a smile to my face. Eight years ago, this man would never have touched cloves even with forceps. He was absolutely disinclined to try anything new even if his life was hanging by a thread. But that night, he had crossed over that threshold from being who he was and stepped ahead, becoming a bit like me.

I know you must be wondering what’s the big deal about cloves. But the fact is whether you change your surname or not, in a marriage you become a bit like the other every passing day. It’s that slow snail-paced change that you don’t even realize you are undergoing until after you have changed. That’s when you know you’ll be in love forever.

A name change after marriage doesn’t define love

Even without changing my name, without proving to our society that I am committed to my marriage, it’s almost like I am slowly becoming more of a Narang and my husband is becoming more of a Kewalya. And I know a time will come, in another few years, when the change will be complete without either of us really changing our names.

Even though I never changed my name on paper, the change in personalities, mannerisms and in our values becomes apparent over time. It kind of hits you one day suddenly when you are sitting with your parents in their home and you realize that what they just said didn’t sound as funny as it would have ten years ago.

Or maybe that cup of tea that you so loved once upon a time but now find too milky. Perhaps, even the way your mom places the mats on the table. At these times you feel the gap, the distance that has emerged in all these years that you have been married. You realize there are so many things you now associate with your husband’s family.

Much like a cup of tea. Does the sugar mix with the tea leaves or do both dissolve in water? What difference does it make as far as you have a perfect cup of tea with a hint of cloves in those cold wintry months?

Is it necessary to change surname after marriage?

Getting back to the question at hand, as you can see, my opinion has never changed. This changing name business should surely be done away with. And what even is the ‘strength’ in keeping your maiden name anyway? Wasn’t that given by your father? If you’d ask me, I think just the first names are wonderful.

Much has been discussed about the after-marriage girl name. Mostly about how a woman not changing her name means she doesn’t want to be a part of the family. In some situations, even keeping both surnames after marriage in India is looked down upon. At this pace, are women to start changing the first name after marriage as well?

And if we really need a surname, why not create one? It could be based on a quality we both admire and respect. Something that describes ‘to be happy in small things’. At the end of the day, your name doesn’t define the love your marriage holds. After all, what’s in a name?