Complications for When Physicians Change a Maiden Name

by Cheryl Alkon •

And, in some cases, using two names can provide some levity.

“It was a long time ago when I got married, and the world was a little different,” said Dr. Woodson. “When my husband and I checked into a hotel, we used to get some funny looks or raised eyebrows when we registered with two different names. I would often explain that we were married, and my husband would tease me by saying, so the clerk could hear it, ‘Oh, you don’t have to lie. No one cares if we’re not married!’”

Cheryl Alkon is a freelance medical writer based in Massachusetts.

Is Shorter Necessarily Sweeter?

Having a name that patients can remember can be useful, because hyphenated names can be forgotten or shortened by those who can’t recall them. Leslie Williamson, MD, an otolaryngologist with the Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo, Texas, was the first female physician to join her practice three decades ago. Back then, some women chose to hyphenate their last names when they married but later dropped it when patients couldn’t remember what to call them,” she said.” It’s so much more practical to have one last name,” said Dr. Williamson.

Shorter can be sweeter. “While I don’t regret keeping my name, I do think the fewer syllables you can get into a name, the easier it is for patients,” she added. “My husband has a two-syllable name, Cogan. While that can be mangled, too, people don’t remember Williamson. They think it is Williams, or Wilson, or they don’t remember all four syllables.”

This is, of course, not limited to the medical field. Laurie K. Scheuble, PhD, a senior lecturer at Pennsylvania State University in State College, noted that some women who use two last names are often referred to by one name. “Did you notice that even Hillary Rodham Clinton is being written about as Hillary Clinton now?” she asked. “So it is pretty evident that women keeping their birth surname in any capacity can be threatening to someone in society.”

Women in the Class of 2017

In a survey of 74 women in the 2017 graduating class at Harvard Medical School, the majority wanted to keep their maiden names after marriage.

65% preferred to keep their maiden names
22% preferred to adopt their partners’ names
13% preferred to adopt joint or hyphenated names
Source: Harvard Medical Student Review