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30 Wash. U. J. L. & Pol'y 561 (2009)
All Names are Not Equal: Choice of Marital Surname and Equal Protection

handle is hein.journals/wajlp30 and id is 563 raw text is: All Names Are Not Equal: Choice of Marital Surname and Equal Protection Kelly Snyder INTRODUCTION What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet. -William Shakespeare1 With all respect to Mr. Shakespeare, names matter. One's name is closely associated with self-identity, and serves the practical function of identification by friends, family, businesses, and the government. People generally are closely tied to their names, shown in part by the great consideration many parents give in naming their children. Names are often changed to reflect different life events or statuses- such as a marrying woman adopting the last name of her new husband. For a long time, marriage has signaled a joining of two (or more) people for the foreseeable future. The motivations to marry, the meanings behind it, and the roles of those involved have transformed over time. It has long been the general practice in the United States for women to change their surnames upon marriage. Currently, women have the statutory right in all fifty states to change their last name upon marriage.2 Such a right for marrying men exists in only eight states.3 In the remaining forty-two states, a husband who wishes to take his wife's last name or some other last name must obtain a court 1. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, ROMEO AND JULIET, act 2, sc. 2. 2. Infra note 43. 3. Infra note 40.

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