Editing Maiden and married names (section)

==Asia==
===China===
Traditionally, unlike in Anglophone Western countries, a married woman keeps her name unchanged, without adopting her husband's surname.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tatlow|first1=Didi|title=For Chinese Women, a Surname Is Her Name|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/world/asia/china-women-surnames.html|website=New York Times|date=11 November 2016 |access-date=12 August 2017}}</ref> In [[mainland China]] a child inherits their father's surname as a norm, though the marriage law explicitly states that a child may use either parent's surname. It is also common for two children born to the same parents to take different surnames, one after the father and the other after the mother. It is also possible, though far less common, for a child to combine both parents' surnames. Amongst the Chinese diaspora overseas, especially in Southeast Asia, women rarely legally adopt their spouse's surname.

===Hong Kong===
Due to British influence, some people in [[Hong Kong]] have also adopted the tradition of women changing their English last name, or prepending their husband's Chinese surname to their own in official occasions or business cards but rarely on resident identification or travel documents. An example is former chief executive [[Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor]], who prepended her husband [[Lam Siu-por]]'s surname to hers.

===Iran===
It became mandatory in 1918 to use surnames in Iran, and only in this time, the heads of families had the right to choose their family members' (including the wife) surname. It is stated in the article four of the law on Civil Registration in 1925, that "Everybody should choose his/her own name. The wife... maintains her family name that was called by." The same thing has been restated in the article three of the law on Civil Registration in 1928. There is not much difference in the article 38 of the law on Civil Registration in 1940, but there is another article (43) that says "If the couple separate legally, maintaining husband's surname is allowed if the husband allows, and if the husband has taken wife's family name, maintaining wife's surname is allowed if the wife allows." In the last related article (the article 42 of the law on Civil Registration in 1976) the same thing is said about wife's surname change, but it is silent about husband's surname change.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Adopting the Spouse's Surname After Marriage in Iranian and American Legal Systems|issue=62|pages=77–94|url=http://familylawandjurisprudence.isuw.ac.ir/article_14401.html|date=22 May 2015|journal=فقه و حقوق خانواده (ندای صادق)|volume=20|access-date=7 October 2018|last1=فراهانی|first1=سید جواد|last2=میرشکاری|first2=عباس|archive-date=7 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007223639/http://familylawandjurisprudence.isuw.ac.ir/article_14401.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://familylawandjurisprudence.isuw.ac.ir/article_14401_c87ab577e6506dd5c8ec4f0c439ec4ed.pdf Adopting the Spouse's Surname After Marriage in Iranian and American Legal Systems] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508112425/http://familylawandjurisprudence.isuw.ac.ir/article_14401_c87ab577e6506dd5c8ec4f0c439ec4ed.pdf |date=8 May 2018 }} by Abbas Mirshekari and Javad Farahani, Biannual Journal of Family Law and Jurisprudence. (''article in Persian'')</ref>
Currently, it is very unusual that either spouse change his/her surname after marriage in Iran.

===Japan===
[[Japan]]ese law does not recognize married couples who have different surnames as lawful husband and wife, which means that 96% of married Japanese women take their husband's surname.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Koffler|first1=Jacob|title=Here Are Places Women Can't Take Their Husband's Name When They Get Married|url=https://time.com/3940094/maiden-married-names-countries/|magazine=Time|publisher=Time Magazine|access-date=29 August 2015|ref=TimeMaritalLaws2015}}</ref> In 2015, the [[Japanese Supreme Court]] upheld the name-change law, ruling that it was not unconstitutional, noting that women could informally use their maiden names, and stating that it was the parliamentarians who should decide on whether to pass new legislation on separate spousal names.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35109455|title=Japanese women lose surname law case|date=16 December 2015|work=BBC News|access-date=15 December 2017|language=en-GB}}</ref>

In 2024, six couples recognized [[International Women's Day]] by suing the government of Japan for the right of a wife and husband to have different last names.<ref name="Japanauto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240308-international-women-s-day-marked-on-the-streets-and-in-the-courts|title=International Women's Day marked on the streets and in the courts|date=March 8, 2024|website=France 24}}</ref>

=== North Korea and South Korea ===
{{One source|section|date=February 2024}}
Traditionally, Korean women keep their family names after their marriage, while their children usually take the father's surname. Korea used to be relatively gender equal as of inheritance and familial duties up until at least the late 17th century.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} Often, family genealogy books would keep track of the daughters and their spouses and offspring too. As such, it was the norm for women to keep their maiden name and they were considered to be part of the family even after marriage. Before modern times, people were very conscious of familial values and their own family identities. It is therefore traditional for Korean women keep their surnames after marriage, based on traditional reasoning that it is what they inherited from their parents and ancestors.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Caprio|first=Mark E.|date=10 February 2017|title=Rationalizing Korea: The Rise of the Modern State, 1895–1945 by Kyung Moon Hwang (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/648344|journal=Journal of Interdisciplinary History|language=en|volume=47|issue=4|pages=576–578|issn=1530-9169|doi=10.1162/JINH_r_01079|s2cid=195825963}}</ref> Colloquially, Koreans consider the name of an individual as a singular entity, and changing the family name syllable would make the name sound strange with the other syllables of the given name.

Nowadays, women still keep their names after marriage. Children can have either parent's surname, but it is customary to use the father's surname.

===Philippines===
{{Main|Filipino name#Maiden and married names}}
Article 370 of the [[Civil Code of the Philippines|Civil Code]] states:{{Blockquote
|text=A married woman may use:<br />(1) Her maiden first name and surname and add her husband’s surname, or<br />(2) Her maiden first name and her husband’s surname, or<br />(3) Her husband’s full name, but prefixing a word indicating that she is his wife, such as “Mrs.”
<ref>{{cite act|title=Civil Code of the Philippines|type=Republic Act|number=386|article=XIII: Use of Surnames|articletype=Title|date=18 June 1949|url=http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1949/06/18/republic-act-no-386/}} {{Cite web |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1949/06/18/republic-act-no-386/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=9 November 2023 |archive-date=8 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508160939/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1949/06/18/republic-act-no-386/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>}}

The usage of the word “may” implies that a woman can retain her maiden name without adding her husband's, and Articles 371 and 372 explicitly state that a woman may resume using her original name upon legal separation or exercise the option to continue using the husband's name unless either the court decrees otherwise or either spouse remarries. The [[Supreme Court of the Philippines|Supreme Court]] ruling  ''Yasin v. Sharia Court'' reiterated this, noting [[Arturo Tolentino]]'s commentary that usage of “may” indicates a permissive action.<ref>{{cite web |title=G.R. No. 94986 |url=https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1995/feb1995/gr_94986_1995.html |website=lawphil.net |access-date=1 January 2025}}</ref> Nevertheless, this caused confusion among some people, leading them to believe that the Civil Code required women to change their surnames, when it wasn't actually the case.<ref name="Pilar">{{cite web |title=Yes, Pilar, you don't have to use Pepe's name after marriage |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1522568/yes-pilar-you-dont-have-to-use-pepes-name-after-marriage |access-date=23 January 2023 |date=2 December 2021}}</ref> On 21 March 2023, the [[House of Representatives of the Philippines|House of Representatives]] passed a bill to revise the Civil Code to explicitly declare that a woman can keep her surname.<ref name="Pilar" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Lower House grants married women right to retain maiden surnames |website=[[Manila Bulletin]] |url=https://mb.com.ph/2021/12/01/lower-house-grants-married-women-right-to-retain-maiden-surnames/ |access-date=24 January 2023 |date=1 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Misis aprub gamitin apelyido sa pagkadalaga – Kamara |url=https://tonite.abante.com.ph/2023/02/19/misis-aprub-gamitin-apelyido-sa-pagkadalaga-kamara/ |website=Abante Tonite |access-date=19 February 2023 |language=Filipino |date=21 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bill allowing married women to retain maiden name gets House nod |url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1197877 |work=Philippine News Agency |access-date=28 March 2023 |date=21 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Panti, Llanesca |title=House okays on final reading bill allowing married women to keep maiden surname |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/864587/house-okays-on-final-reading-bill-allowing-married-women-to-keep-maiden-surname/story/ |publisher=GMA News |access-date=28 March 2023 |date=21 March 2023}}</ref>
 
Married women in professional circles (e.g. [[Gloria Macapagal Arroyo]], [[Korina Sanchez-Roxas]], [[Vilma Santos-Recto]]) typically join their maiden and married surnames in both professional and legal use. This allows them to be identified as married, and keep track of their professional achievements without being confused for any similarly named individuals. An older scheme based on [[Spanish naming customs]] add the particle ''de'' ("of") between the maiden and married surnames. This tradition is no longer common.

===Taiwan===
Taiwanese women generally keep their surnames after marriage, while their children may inherit either the father's or the mother's. It is, however, legal to take the spouse's surname.<ref>{{cite web|title=Laws & Regulations Database and The Republic of China|url=http://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=D0030011|website=law.moj.gov.tw|access-date=17 March 2017}}</ref> Some older women have the husband's surname tagged on to theirs, as was common in the early to mid-20th century.

===Thailand===
A Thai wife who adopted her husband's surname due to the old law requiring it, can also change back to her original surname.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thaigeneralkonsulat.de/th/consular/namensfuehrung.html |script-title=th:การใช้ชื่อสกุลตามพระราชบัญญัติชื่อบุคคล (ฉบับที่ 3) พ.ศ. 2548 |author=Royal Thai Consulate-General, [[Frankfurt]] am Main |access-date=10 August 2011 |language=th |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126011248/http://www.thaigeneralkonsulat.de/th/consular/namensfuehrung.html |archive-date=26 November 2011 }}</ref>

===Vietnam===
In Vietnamese culture, women keep their family names once they marry, whilst the children produced by the couple tend to keep the father's family name, although names can often be combined from the father's and mother's family names (Nguyễn Lê, Phạm Vũ, Kim Lý, Trần Nguyễn, Lê Nguyễn, Nguyễn Trần, Vũ Trần, etc.).