Attitudes Toward Married Women's Surnames: Evidence from the American Midwest

Abstract

Married women who retain their given surnames are perceived very differently from married women who take their husbands' surnames. Moreover, the relative strengths of these perceptions vary according to the characteristics of the people who hold them. The perceptions and the ways in which they vary are examined in the light of corresponding culturally- and demographically-defined notions of societal norms.