Actress Zoe Saldana has been married to Marco Saldana (formely Marco Perego) after secretly marrying over two years ago. Marco decided to take Zoe’s last name (even though she wasn’t totally for it) because he says they are equals. She shares in the July 2015 issue of InStyle that she tried to talk him out of it:
I told him, ‘If you use my name, you’re going to be emasculated by your community of artists, by your Latin community of men, by the world.
This is right up our alley because we are always preaching that couples have to do what’s right for them, it doesn’t matter what other people think. – – Marriage is not one size fits all.
Now, with that being said….would I want my husband to take my last name? I don’t know, because of how I was raised in this society, it seems a little weird to me. But, I like it. Marco is right..they are equals. A wife should be able to keep her last name or take her husband’s last name or vice versa. No one should be forced to take another person’s last name.
That’s why it’s important to communicate, communicate, communicate before you get married. This is not a conversation that you want to have the night before the wedding, or worse on you wedding night. Get to know your spouse and learn all about how their grew up, their family traditions, and what customs are important to them – 20 Questions to Ask a Potential Spouse
I’ve even seen a couple hyphenate both last names and they both took on the new hyphenated name. I like that option too.
BMWK – what are your thoughts on this? Would your husband ever do this? Did you take your spouse’s last name…why or why not?