I am not one of those three million. Most of you know me as Aurora Meyer. Meyer is my maiden name and though my married name is different, I still go by Meyer professionally.
There are a myriad of reasons why I chose to keep my maiden name, but the most important is that if you Google my married name very little comes up. My credibility and “brand” are all intrinsically connected to Meyer. I worked hard to build my credibility as a journalist and now as a professional. I wasn’t ready or willing to just toss that all aside and start from scratch.
I’m lucky to have a supportive husband, who doesn’t care what my last name reads on my business card. It helps that he is in a similar business and having a different last name keeps our professional lives separate from each other.
Is this a perfect solution? No. It works for us. I realized that changing my name meant more than However, as more and more women build their identities under their maiden names, making a change can mean losing credibility. At least until Google finds a way to connect new last names to results.