What Are My Married Name Options?

As a bride or groom you have 3 options for taking a new name.  You can take any one of the options below and as a married couple you can have different surnames.  Any of these changes can be taken with only your marriage certificate as evidence of your new name.

1. You can change your surname to your spouse’s surname.  It is a custom for a bride to take her husband’s surname, not the law.  However since the mid 90’s approximately 85% of brides still choose to take their husbands name.
2. You can use a combination of your married and maiden name.  Professionally you may want to retain your current name, especially as you have developed a reputation in your industry.  Personally you may chose to update your passport and drivers license to have the same surname as your partner.  Just ensure your personal documents and ID are consistently under the one name.
3. You can leave your name as is and take no action.

Double Barrelled surnames
A double barrelled surname is where you take your spouse’s surname and add it to your own surname in any order (ie: Jones-Smith). The names can be hyphenated or spaced and can be arranged in any order.  Most Canadian organisations, including the passports office, allow a double barrelled surname on presentation of a marriage certificate.

Some provinces, such as BC do not allow double barrelled surnames after marriage and request a legal name change.  If you chose to take a double barrelled surname we recommend you update your passport and/or drivers license first as this can help make subsequent changes easier.

Want a different surname entirely?

A couple could change their surname name to a different name entirely, but if it is not one of the above options then you need to undertake a legal name change. It can be easier for the husband to legally change his surname before the wedding, then after the wedding the bride can use the Wedding Certificate to change her surname.

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