The New York Times found in a 2015 analysis that around 70% of women in the United States take on their husband's family name upon marriage, a number that suggests an allegiance to a cultural paradigm that has existed since medieval times. 

Simon Duncan, a professor of family life at the University of Bradford in the U.K. who has been studying male-name taking, affirmed the patriarchal undertones that are associated with women embracing a man's surname. 

“It is quite surprising…[that a large number of women adopt the man’s name] since it comes from patriarchal history, from the idea that a woman, on marriage, became one of the man’s possessions," Duncan said, according to the BBC. 

"Is this just a harmless tradition, or is there some sort of meaning leaking from those times to now?" he asked.

After a fierce Twitter debate inspired by a user asking, "y'all be marrying women who don't want your last name?????" people shared their own opinions of the name-taking tradition.

Some Twitter users thought it was offensive to suggest that a woman should be expected to take her husband's last name. 

Some Twitter users expressed the importance of the name change, and if they refused, they'd consider it a "red flag."  

While people argued that women taking their husband's family name is respectful by way of tradition, others made note of how difficult the name changing process can be which entails anything from getting a new driver's license to a new social security card.

And other users gave a brief history lesson on how taking surnames in Western culture is an antiquated practice.

“I already owned my house. I had a degree, my car, all different things. So, if I had to change my name, then subsequently I’d have to change my name on all those titles and licenses,” America Nazar, a dentist based in Sweden said. “It just makes it a bit more complicated and it's not very necessary, in my opinion.” 

Overall, a number of women in the United States have opted for neutrality in the name-taking debate, using hyphenated names as a possible alternative, The Atlantic reported.

Psychologist and therapist at the University of California, Berkley Heath Schechinger, anticipates that heterosexual couples may be influenced to keep their own names as “the concept of 'family' expands” to become more inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community and even “two-plus partner unions."

“While it is unlikely partners will ever have complete autonomy about their name choices without fear of societal or familial repercussions, an increasing number of people are, and will continue, to make the choice to deviate from the norm,” he said. 

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