Editing Maiden and married names (section)

== Europe ==
===Austria===
In [[Austria]], since 1 April 2013, marriage does not automatically change a woman's name; therefore a name change can only take place upon legal application. Before that date, the default was for a married woman's name to be changed to that of her husband, unless she legally applied to opt out of this.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/embassy/london/practical-advice/consular-services/change-of-name.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101163617/http://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/embassy/london/practical-advice/consular-services/change-of-name.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 November 2014 |title=Österreichische Botschaft London| publisher=Austrian Embassy London }}</ref>

===France===
In [[France]], by executive decision since 2011<ref>[http://www.senat.fr/questions/base/2012/qSEQ121002756.html Answer] by the [[Minister of the Interior (France)|Ministry of the Interior]] to a question about the usage by married men of their wife's name</ref> and by law since 2013,<ref>[https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichCodeArticle.do?idArticle=LEGIARTI000027416921&cidTexte=LEGITEXT000006070721&dateTexte=20190104 Article 225-1] of the [[French Civil Code|Civil Code]]</ref> any married person may officially use their spouse's name as a common name by substituting or compounding it to their own. Before this it was common for married women to use their husband's name in everyday life, but this had no legal recognition.

A common name does not replace a person's family name as written on their birth certificate.

From 4 March 2002 to 4 December 2009, children given both parents' names had to have them separated by a double dash (ex: Dupont<nowiki>--</nowiki>Clairemont). On 4 December 2009, the [[Council of State (France)|Conseil d'État]] ruled that a space can be used instead of the double dash. As a result, forms asking for the choice of family name for a child (''nom de famille'') do so on two lines ("''1ère partie'': ..... ", "''2e partie'': ....")<ref>{{cite web |url=http://consulfrance-toronto.org/spip.php?article1731 |title=Déclaration de choix de nom – Consulat général de France à Toronto |publisher=Consulfrance-toronto.org |access-date=6 August 2018 |archive-date=2 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102124033/http://consulfrance-toronto.org/spip.php?article1731 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Germany===
In [[Germany]], since 1977, a woman may adopt her husband's surname or a man may adopt his wife's surname. As an alternative, one of them may adopt a name combined from both surnames; the remaining unchanged surname is the "family name" (''Ehename''), which will be the surname of the children. If a man and woman both decide to keep and use their birth names after the wedding (no combined name), they shall declare one of those names the "family name". A combined name is not possible as a family name, but, since 2005, it has been possible to have a double name as a family name if one already had a double name, and the partner adopts that name. Double names then must be hyphenated. All family members must use that double name.<ref>[http://bundesrecht.juris.de/bgb/__1355.html BGB – Einzelnorm] (''article in German'')</ref><ref>[http://www.frag-einen-anwalt.de/Doppelname-als-Familienname__f25495.html Doppelname als Familienname] (''article in German'')</ref>
In 2025 true double names became legal for spouses as well as the possibility to have children bearing a double name whereas parents retain their birth names
<ref>[https://www.heuking.de/de/news-events/newsletter-fachbeitraege/artikel/reform-des-namensrechts-2025-die-wichtigsten-aenderungen-im-ueberblick.html Neues Namensrecht] (''article in German'')</ref>

===Greece===
Since 1983, when [[Greece]] adopted a new [[marriage law]] which guaranteed [[gender equality]] between the spouses,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/26/world/around-the-world-greece-approves-family-law-changes.html|title=Greece Approves Family Law Changes|date=26 January 1983|work=The New York Times|access-date=15 December 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> women in Greece are required to ''keep'' their birth names for their whole lives.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/06/women-change-name-after-marriage-greece|title=Should women change their names after marriage? Ask a Greek woman|last=Long|first=Heather|date=6 October 2013|work=The Guardian|access-date=15 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006115711/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/06/women-change-name-after-marriage-greece|archive-date=6 October 2013|url-status=dead|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

===Italy===
Spouses keep their original surnames. According to the Italian Civil Code (article 143 bis), a woman who marries keeps her surname and has the option of adding her husband's surname after hers. Non-Italian citizens getting married in Italy will not have their surname changed in Italy. However, brides or grooms can request their surname change in their home country.<ref>{{cite web|title=Name change by effect of a marriage in Italy|url=https://www.weddingintuscany.info/blog/name-change-afterwedding-in-italy/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130413010149/http://www.weddingintuscany.info/blog/2013/03/name-change-afterwedding-in-italy/|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 April 2013|work=wedding in Italy|access-date=6 March 2013}}</ref>

===Netherlands===
In the [[Netherlands]], persons who have been married in the Netherlands or entered into a registered partnership will remain registered under their birth name. They are, however, permitted to use their partner's last name for social purposes or join both names. Upon marriage or registered partnership, one may also indicate how one would like to be addressed by registering one's choice at the Municipal Basis Administration (Basisregistratie Personen), although their birth name does not change. One may choose to be called by one's own name, one's partner's name, one's own name followed by one's partner's name (hyphenated), or one's partner's name followed by their own name (hyphenated; this was the prevailing convention up to very recently. In this case the maiden name following the hyphen only uses a capital if it is a noun; if it is an [[affix]] like ''van'' or ''de'' the affix remains uncapitalized; this is an exception to the general rule for surnames that are capitalized when standing alone<ref>{{cite web|url=https://woordenlijst.org/leidraad/16/2|title=Persoonsnamen|publisher=[[Dutch Language Union|Nederlandse Taalunie]]|access-date=10 February 2023|language=nl}}</ref>). Both men and women may make this choice upon registering to get married or entering into a registered partnership. If the marriage or registered partnership ends, one may continue to use the ex-partner's last surname unless the ex-partner disagrees and requests the court to forbid the use of the ex-partner's surname.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/naamrecht/vraag-en-antwoord/wanneer-mag-ik-de-achternaam-van-mijn-partner-gebruiken.html |title=Wanneer mag ik de achternaam van mijn partner gebruiken? |publisher=Rijksoverheid.nl |date=1 June 2010|language=nl}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>

Before the birth or adoption of a first child, married parents or parents in a registered partnership may choose the child's surname. This can be either the father's name, the mother's name or both.<ref>{cite: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/aangifte-geboorte-en-naamskeuze-kind/vraag-en-antwoord/mag-ik-mijn-kind-2-achternamen-geven}</ref> There is a maximum of two last names, so children of people with double last names AB and CD have to chose between either of those names (AB or CD), or a combination of these names (AC, CA, AD, DA, BC, CB, BD, DB), but not only one part (A, B, C or D) or reverse of current names (BA or DC). If no choice is made, the child automatically bears (only) the father's surname. Any further children will also go by this name. If the parents are not married, the children will automatically have their mother's name unless otherwise indicated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-publicaties/publicaties-pb51/de-keuze-van-de-achternaam.html |title=De keuze van de achternaam |publisher=Rijksoverheid.nl |date=24 June 2009 |access-date=29 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511084410/https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-publicaties/publicaties-pb51/de-keuze-van-de-achternaam.html|language=nl |archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref>

=== Portugal ===
Wives usually append the family name of their spouse to their legal name, although there is a recent trend of women keeping their maiden names.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://vejasp.abril.com.br/cidades/homens-adotam-sobrenome-mulheres/ | title=Cresce número de casadas que rejeitam o sobrenome do parceiro}}</ref> Following [[Portuguese name|Portuguese naming customs]], a person's name consists of a [[given name]] (simple or composite) followed by two family names (surnames), the mother's and the father's. Any children whom a couple have together, take both second-surnames.

===Russia===
There is a widespread, though not universal, custom for a newly married wife to adopt the husband's family name. However, as Russia is not a common law country, any name change requires a formal procedure including an official application to the [[Civil registry|civil acts registrar]]. As the same registrar also records marriages, for the convenience sake it is often done during the marriage proceedings, as governed by the Federal Law #143-FZ "On Civil State Acts", and the couple's marriage certificate has an option of having one common family name, or both spouses going by their original surname. However, the law is entirely gender neutral, and the couple may adopt either of their surnames (a husband adopting his wife's family name is an uncommon but by no means unheard-of practice, which is generally accepted and carries little to no social stigma), or even a completely different one. The law also recognizes the couple's right to use the combined family name, and for the either of the spouses to reclaim their original surname in the case the marriage is dissolved.

=== Scotland ===
In the lowlands of Scotland in the 16th century, married women did not change their surnames, but today it is common practice to do so.<ref>{{cite web|last=Krossa|first=Sharon L.|url=http://medievalscotland.org/scotnames/lowland16/|title=Early 16th Century Scottish Lowland Names|publisher=Medievalscotland.org|access-date=29 July 2010}}</ref>

=== Spain ===
Spouses have always kept their original surnames. Following [[Spanish naming customs]], a person's name consists of a [[given name]] (simple or composite) followed by two family names (surnames), the father's and the mother's. Any children whom a couple have together take both first-surnames, so if "José Gómez Hevia" and "María Reyes García" had a child named "Andrés", the resulting name would be "Andrés Gómez Reyes".

Law 11/1981 in [[Spain]], enacted in 1981, declared among other things that children, on turning 18, now had a legal option to choose whether their father's or mother's surname came first. If a family did not exercise an option to change the order of the names in their surname, the law defaulted to the father's surname as the first.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|last=Zubiaur|first=Leire Imaz|chapter=La superación de la incapacidad de gestionar el propio patrimonio por parte de la mujer casada|chapter-url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2874645|title=Mujeres y Derecho, Pasado y Presente: I Congreso multidisciplinar de Centro-Sección de Bizkaia de la Facultad de Derecho |year=2008 |isbn=978-84-9860-157-2 |publisher=Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea|pages=69–82}}</ref>

Also in Spain, a 1995 reform in the law allows the parents to choose whether the father's or the mother's surname goes first, although this order must be the same for all their children. For instance, the name of the son of the couple in the example above could be "Andrés Gómez Reyes" or "Andrés Reyes Gómez".<ref>[http://noticias.juridicas.com/index.php?doc=http%3A//noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Privado/lrc.html ''Art. 55 Ley de Registro Civil'' – Civil Register Law] (article in Spanish)</ref>

In some Spanish-American countries it is customary for women to unofficially add the husband's first surname after her own, for social purposes such as invitation letters or event announcements. The couple above may introduce themselves as José Gómez Hevia and María Reyes de Gómez. It is also common to name, in formal settings, the wife of a man as "señora de", followed by her husband's first surname.

===Turkey===
Since 2014, women in [[Turkey]] are allowed to keep their birth names alone for their whole life instead of using their husbands' names.<ref>{{cite web|title=Married Women in Turkey may use their maiden name without husband's surname hereinafter|url=http://www.turkeylawconsulting.com/corporate-individuals-law/married-women-in-turkey-may-use-their-maiden-name-without-husbands-surname-hereinafter/|work=Birthname usage in Turkey|access-date=24 February 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160327064700/http://www.turkeylawconsulting.com/corporate-individuals-law/married-women-in-turkey-may-use-their-maiden-name-without-husbands-surname-hereinafter/|archive-date=27 March 2016}}</ref> Previously, the Turkish Code of Civil Law, Article 187, required a married woman to use her husband's surname; or else to use her birth name in front of her husband's name by giving a written application to the marriage officer or the civil registry office. In 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled that prohibiting married women from retaining only maiden names is a violation of their rights.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/prohibiting-married-women-from-retaining-only-maiden-names-a-violation-top-court-60734|title=Prohibiting married women from retaining only maiden names a violation: Top court|date=8 January 2014|website=Hürriyet Daily News|access-date=15 December 2017}}</ref>