The Name Game

I'm getting married in a matter of weeks, and one of the things I'm thinking about is my name.  Shall I keep it?  Shall I change it?  And why?

It was easy when I married the first time, 37 years ago.  I was young with a family name both difficult to spell and to pronounce.    My name was such a pain in the neck that I vowed, in 2nd grade, to marry a man with a one syllable last name that started in the beginning of the alphabet.  Seriously.  While that was not the reason I married Steve, I was very happy to take on the last name of Bayne, and Lisa Bayne I have been for 37 years.

My career began after I became Bayne, and my children are both Baynes.  I love sharing a name with them, and hardly think of the name as that of my ex.  It is our name:  Nick's and Zana's and mine.  And I suspect no one would ever find me or know me professionally if I were change my name at this point in my career.

And yet.  The "yet" is that I love sharing a name, and it is meaningful to me to share a name with the man to whom I am committing my life.  Astor?  Lisa Astor?  I don't know her.  But I think I will be able to know Lisa Bayne Astor and am excited to get to know her as I begin this next, wonderful chapter of my life.