Changing my name after we get married

[Amy_and_Victor 159]

It's Amy posting! It seems like most of the regulars on this sub-forum are men married to RUB women, but I'm an American girl who will be marrying my Russian guy. As you may know, in Russia a woman's last name traditionally has an "a" on the end to signify the fact she is a woman, which is why you never see women with names just like Ivanov - it's always Ivanova, as you'll never meet a guy with the last name Ivanova. I'd like to change my last name in this fashion after we get married, to include an "a" at the end of his last name, in the Russian tradition, but I feel like it may be somewhat difficult to go change my name after we get married and that since this isn't the custom here they might not let me do it. Does anyone have any thoughts about this? I plan to make some calls to the city clerk where I live to ask this, but I thought I'd also post it to VJ and see if any other women have tried to change their last name to reflect this Russian tradition in the States. Thanks!

[Brusik 11]

My wife always gets questioned about her surname

It was Bandur

Now it's Bandur-Friday

:thumbs:

[elya 17]

Hi Amy,

I am planning to do the same. How easy or hard it is will depend on the rules in the county/state you get married. I've read that in some states they let you write in what you want your married name to be on the application for a marriage license and that it's possible to write the 'a' in there for yourself.

Where I live it's more difficult and you have to go to court and formally request a name change after the marriage. That's what I'm going to do. Because of all the paperwork (and time - 3-4 months minimum here) involved though I'm planning to wait until after AOS though to make the legal change.

The middle ground is when you take in your marriage certificate to the DMV and Social Security office and they let you add the 'a' to your last name only without requiring court. I've heard it worked in some cases but if the name won't match the marriage certificate (as will be the case with me) I'd rather have the court order on hand.

FWIW I know a few Russian women living here who have legally changed their names to match their husbands (removing the 'a') because they got tired of dealing with people's confusion. Personally I want my 'a' anyway :-)

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

It's Amy posting! It seems like most of the regulars on this sub-forum are men married to RUB women, but I'm an American girl who will be marrying my Russian guy. As you may know, in Russia a woman's last name traditionally has an "a" on the end to signify the fact she is a woman, which is why you never see women with names just like Ivanov - it's always Ivanova, as you'll never meet a guy with the last name Ivanova. I'd like to change my last name in this fashion after we get married, to include an "a" at the end of his last name, in the Russian tradition, but I feel like it may be somewhat difficult to go change my name after we get married and that since this isn't the custom here they might not let me do it. Does anyone have any thoughts about this? I plan to make some calls to the city clerk where I live to ask this, but I thought I'd also post it to VJ and see if any other women have tried to change their last name to reflect this Russian tradition in the States. Thanks!

It will depend somewhat on your state. Changing to his exact surname would not be a problem and adding the "a" should not be in most states. Check with the DMV of your state or Secretary of State, whoever handles such things.