Heard a conversation in which one participant said no to the above question. The other person’s response was in the affirmative, saying that the Bible called for such a change.

Curiously, I skimmed through the Bible to see who was right. Here’s what I found. There wasn’t any mention of a wife taking her husband’s last name. Instead, the wives were often identified by their children (Mary, the mother of John) or by where they were from (Ruth, the Moabitess) or by their husbands (Sarah, Abraham’s wife).

It appears that women, especially in western culture, commonly change their last names to that of their husbands because it is a cultural tradition. Then too, some Christian women choose to do it in honor of a couple of biblical principles: (1) the headship of the husband as (2) the two come together to form one flesh.

The conclusion I come to is that since the Bible doesn’t explicitly command a wife to change her last name, then it isn’t unbiblical for her to keep her maiden name or do the hyphenated maiden-husband’s last name. The issue is a matter that should be prayerfully decided by the soon-to-be wed; a decision that should then be respected by all others.