Dear Queenie,
My girlfriend and I are talking about getting married, but she doesn’t want to give up her family name.
Queenie, does this mean she isn’t really ready to make a commitment to me?—Worried boyfriend
Dear Boyfriend,
Many women prefer to keep their maiden name (the family name they were born with) for professional reasons, others out of loyalty to their birth family. As a compromise, it is common for a woman to hyphenate the two names. Would you be willing to have her do this? If not, perhaps both of you should reconsider whether you are ready for marriage.
