Editing Maiden and married names (section)

== North America ==
=== Canada ===
{{Main|Canadian name}}
In most of Canada, either partner may informally assume the spouse's surname after marriage, so long as it is not for the purposes of fraud. The same is true for people in [[Common-law marriage|common-law relationships]], in some provinces. This is not considered a legal name change in most provinces, excluding British Columbia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/life-events/legal-changes-of-name/legal-change-of-name-application#after_marriage|title=Legal Change of Name Application – Province of British Columbia|website=www2.gov.bc.ca|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128121222/http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/life-events/legal-changes-of-name/legal-change-of-name-application#after_marriage|archive-date=28 January 2016|url-status=dead|access-date=15 December 2017}}</ref> For federal purposes, such as a Canadian [[passport]], Canadians may also assume their partner's surname if they are in a common-law relationship.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ppt.gc.ca/info/section1.aspx?lang=eng |title=Personal information - Passport Canada |access-date=10 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130331150305/http://www.ppt.gc.ca/info/section1.aspx?lang=eng |archive-date=31 March 2013 }}</ref> In the province of British Columbia, people have to undergo a legal name change if they want to use a combined surname after marriage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/marriage/|title=Birth, Adoption, Death, Marriage & Divorce – Province of British Columbia|website=www.vs.gov.bc.ca|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010430005245/http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/marriage/|archive-date=30 April 2001|url-status=dead|access-date=15 December 2017}}</ref> Their marriage certificate is considered proof of their new name.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.ontario.ca/en/information_bundle/individuals/119599.html| title = Official government ID and certificates {{!}} ontario.ca}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/sin/before-applying.html|title=Social Insurance Number – What you need before you start|publisher=Employment and Social Development Canada|date=13 June 2016 }}</ref>

The custom in Québec was similar to the one [[Married and maiden names#France|in France]] until 1981. Women would traditionally go by their husband's surname in daily life, but their maiden name remained their legal name.<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1880/08/10/106232934.pdf Gleanings from the mails; Maiden names. How an old Québec law annoys married women, lawyers, and tax-collectors], from the ''Montreal Witness'', reprinted by ''The New York Times'', 10 August 1880. Retrieved 1 April 2008.</ref> Since the passage of a 1981 provincial law intended to promote gender equality, as outlined in the [[Québec Charter of Rights]], no change may be made to a person's name without the authorization of the registrar of civil status or the authorization of the court. Newlyweds who wish to change their names upon marriage must therefore go through the same procedure as those changing their names for other reasons. The registrar of civil status may authorize a name change if:

#the name the person generally uses does not correspond to the name on their birth certificate,
#the name is of foreign origin or too difficult to pronounce or write in its original form, or 
#the name invites ridicule or has become infamous.<ref>[http://www.canlii.org/qc/laws/sta/ccq/20080314/whole.html Civil Code of Québec] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109002437/http://www.canlii.org/qc/laws/sta/ccq/20080314/whole.html|date=9 January 2009}}, 14 March 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2008.</ref>

This law does not make it legal for a woman to change her name immediately upon marriage, as marriage is not listed among the reasons for a name change.<ref>[http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=72ddc06b-4660-4b92-8b92-3a26ae24b377&k=5969 Québec newlywed furious she can't take her husband's name] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102072805/http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=72ddc06b-4660-4b92-8b92-3a26ae24b377&k=5969|date=2 January 2016}}, by Marianne White, ''CanWest News Service'', 8 August 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2008.</ref>

=== United States ===
There were some early cases in the United States that held that under [[common law]], a woman was required to take her husband's name,<ref>Stannard, Una (1977). ''Mrs. Man'' GermainBooks, San Francisco. {{ISBN|0-914142-02-X}}, pp. 239–277.</ref> but newer cases overturned that (see "Retain the birth name" above).<ref>Stannard, Una (1977). ''Mrs Man''. GermainBooks, San Francisco. {{ISBN|0-914142-02-X}}, pp. 277–282.</ref> Currently, American women do not have to change their names by law.<ref name="Gorence 1976">{{cite web|title=Women's Name Rights|last=Gorence|first=Patricia|date=1976|website=scholarship.law|url=http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2239&context=mulr}}</ref> ''[[Lindon v. First National Bank]]'', 10 F. 894 (W.D. Pa. 1882), is one of the very earliest precedent-setting [[Federal judiciary of the United States|US federal court]] cases involving [[common law]] [[name change]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bander|first1=Edward|title=Change of name and law of names|date=1 January 1973|publisher=Oceana Publications|isbn=9780379110883|pages=37–38|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i1FUGhM98eAC&q=10+F.+894+name+change|access-date=31 October 2017}}</ref> A woman who had changed her last name to one that was not her husband's original surname was trying to claim control over her [[inheritance]]. The court ruled in her favor. This set forth many things. By common law, one may lawfully change their name and be "known and recognized" by that new name. Also, one may enter into any kinds of contracts in their new adopted name. Contracts include employment (see ''[[Coppage v. Kansas]]'' 236 U.S. 1), and one can be recognized legally in court in their new name. In 1967 in ''Erie Exchange v. Lane'', 246 Md. 55 (1967) the Maryland Court of Appeals held that a married woman can lawfully adopt an assumed name, even if it is not her birth name or the name of her lawful husband, without legal proceedings.<ref name="justia1976">{{cite web | url=https://law.justia.com/cases/maryland/court-of-special-appeals/1976/511-september-term-1975-0.html | title=Hall v. Hall}}</ref> In the United States, only eight states provide for an official name change for a man as part of their marriage process, and in others a man may petition a court or—where not prohibited—change his name without a legal procedure (though government agencies sometimes do not recognize this procedure). The practice remains popular in the 21st century. According to a Pew Research Center survey published in September 2023, nearly 4 out of every 5 women in heterosexual marriages in the United States changed their last names to those of their husbands. On the other hand, 92% of all men in these marriages kept their last names.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About eight-in-ten women in opposite-sex marriages say they took their husband’s last name |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/09/07/about-eight-in-ten-women-in-opposite-sex-marriages-say-they-took-their-husbands-last-name/ |access-date=2023-09-17 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2007, Michael Buday and Diana Bijon enlisted the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] and filed a discrimination lawsuit against the state of [[California]]. According to the ACLU, the obstacles facing a husband who wishes to adopt his wife's last name violated the equal protection clause provided by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=277893|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423155150/https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=277893|url-status=dead|title=ABC News: ABC News|website = [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|archive-date=23 April 2009}}</ref> At the time of the lawsuit, only the states of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Hawaii]], [[Iowa]], [[Massachusetts]], [[New York (state)|New York]] and [[North Dakota]] explicitly allowed a man to change his name through marriage with the same ease as a woman. As a result of the lawsuit, the ''Name Equality Act of 2007'' was passed to allow either spouse to change their name, using their marriage license as the means of the change; the law took effect in 2009.<ref name=lawsuit /><ref name=NameEqualityAct>{{cite web|title=The Name Equality Act of 2007|url=https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHSI/CDPH%20Document%20Library/CHSI-The-Name-Equality-Actof2007-4-2017.pdf|website=California Department of Public Health|access-date=15 December 2017|date=January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215110936/https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHSI/CDPH%20Document%20Library/CHSI-The-Name-Equality-Actof2007-4-2017.pdf|archive-date=15 December 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the United States, some states or areas have laws that restrict what surname a child may have. For example, [[Tennessee]] allows a child to be given a surname that does not include that of the father only upon "the concurrent submission of a sworn application to that effect signed by both parents."<ref>[http://www.state.tn.us/tccy/tnchild/68/68-3-305.htm Tennessee State Code. Title 68. Chapter 3. Part 3. 68-3-305.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118070230/http://www.state.tn.us/tccy/tnchild/68/68-3-305.htm|date=18 November 2012}} Father's name on birth certificate. -Surname of child.</ref>

In [[Massachusetts]], a [[Claudia Goldin|Harvard study]] in 2004 found that about 87% of college-educated women take their husbands' name on marriage, down from a peak before 1975 of over 90%, but up from about 80% in 1990. The same study found women with a college degree were "two to four times (depending on age) more likely to retain their surname" than those without a college degree.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Claudia Goldin | author-link=Claudia Goldin | author2=Maria Shim | url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/goldin/files/making_a_name_womens_surnames_at_marriage_and_beyond.pdf | title=Making a Name: Women's Surnames at Marriage and Beyond] | journal=Journal of Economic Perspectives}}</ref>