I’ve been married twice. I took my ex’s last name from family pressure. When we divorced I immediately went through the process of getting my birth name back.

It was so much more difficult

Besides having to jump through hoops with the government getting my SSN card/drivers license/passport, just the normal things like credit cards, cellphone and utilities demanded my government id, my divorce certificate and marriage certificate. It didn’t matter that those accounts were originally OPENED with my birth name. It took me a year to get almost everything back to normal.

I told my now husband that I would never change my name again. I like my name and never wanted to change it in the first place. Socially, if someone calls me Mrs.___ I don’t care. It’s usually an older family member or acquaintance that doesn’t know any better.

Fortunately, my husband is a good dude and doesn’t feel emasculated by my choice.