Women’s Marital Naming Choices in a Nationally Representative Sample

We explore women’s marital naming choices using the 2004 American Community Survey (ACS). Six percent of native-born married women have nonconventional surnames. Nonconventional surnames include hyphenated surnames, two surnames, and women who kept their own surname at marriage. Characteristics associated with nonconventional surname use include younger age, being other than White non-Hispanic, a large age difference between spouses, and higher educational attainment. Women with a master’s degree have odds of using a nonconventional surname that are 2.8 times higher than those who have less than a bachelor’s degree, whereas women with a professional degree have odds that are 5.0 times higher, and women with a doctorate have odds 9.8 times those with less than a bachelor’s degree.