Man Sues California to Take Wife's Last Name
Couple Fights for Gender Rights of Married Couples
Mike Buday wanted to take his fiancee's last name when they married in 2005. The would-be Mike Bijon and his wife Diana were in fact stunned that the process of changing his legal name was not simple.
Bijon, 28 approached Buday about the idea. She had no brothers and wanted her family's name to carry on. Buday had no arguments. He is estranged from his father and not attached to his last name. Buday said that this was important to his wife, or else she would not approached him with such a 'new' idea.
Buday says that they feel very strongly about gender equality for men and women, and feel their case is bringing heightened awareness to the cause. In California, like most states, a man must go through much more paperwork-beyond what a woman would be required to do-when filing for a name change when marrying. They cannot simply choose another name. In California, a man who wants to take his wife's name must file a petition, pay a fee of more than $300, place a public notice for weeks in a local newspaper and then appear before a judge.
However, six other states do have equal name-change statutes: Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York and North Dakota. But because of this case and its attention, a California state lawmaker has since introduced a bill to put a space on the marriage license for either spouse to change names.
While the Census Bureau does not keep figures of the number of men taking their new wife's name, county clerks report that it is happening more. In Milwaukee County, Wis. the clerk said one in every 100 marriages it happens.
Frustrated with their state's law, the couple did try to get a name change at the Department of Motor Vehicles, but the woman behind the counter told Buday, according to the AP article: "Men just don't do that type of thing."
According to a 2004 Harvard University study, the number of college-educated women who kept their surnames upon marriage rose from 3% in 1975 to 29% in 2001. Woman wanting to keep their last names, or hyphenate them has been a trend since the feminist movement.
Published by D. S. Ploshay
Since 2000, Donna Ploshay has contributed to alternative weeklies, newspapers, magazines and puzzle books including "The Times Leader," "The Weekender," "Games" and "Wilkes." Her expertise includes SEO, blog... View profile
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11 Comments
Post a CommentVery interesting article!
The idea of not letting this guy change his name to his wife's name seems like such an injustice to me. I'm glad this couple is going to take this through the courts and thanks, Donna, for the article. I'm shocked and saddened by the information in your "takeaways."
ninigurl- thanks for sharing that info. It seems like it is more than just marriage that need clarifying in states when it comes to names. I also was adopted by a stepdad and my mom since remarried again- so I have a name different than everyone in my family!
My step-dad adopted us and we took his name. I raised my daughter single-handedly. When she was born the state of WA wouldn't allow an unmarried woman to put the fathers name on the child's birth certificate. No marriage certificate no father's last name. They have since changed that. But my daughter carries my adopted dad's last name also. At least he got one more generation out of it.
Good article. I'm not sure how I feel about it. My first thought was it would have been easier on my kids to have the last name Mills instead of Kuchinsky (just kidding!) It's an interesting thought, though.
If they do want the family name to carry on, I suppose their kids could just take the mom's last name, but then it doesn't seem like a full family.... I don't know... I have a different last name than my mom and real dad-- my step-dad adopted me, and then my mom remarried after that. Geez!
Donna,
Ninigurl is right. Why can't husbands change names too?
You're welcome! Unneccessary fees seem to follow me around, haha!! I know what you mean. My work just had to pay $300 for a license so I could enroll people in my school off-site. I didn't have to take a test, etc. for it- just pay for it. Argh!
I think it is silly and sexist that a state does not allow a man to automatically change his name should he choose to upon marriage. Another one of those ridiculous laws that should have been taken off the books long ago but still exists to create fees for nothing! Great article and thanks for bringing another piece of info into my life that was previously unknown.
I agree. I always wanted to keep my name since I've written so much under it-- but I never thought of asking Dave to take my name (that is, if we tie the knot!) but I have no qualms with it-- but you are right! It will be super hard to sort things out down the line!!