“I just don’t see why women need to take the man’s name.”
For centuries, it’s been customary for a woman to take her husband’s last name after they get married. But as of late, many couples are ditching the longstanding tradition and opting for a concept that’s a little more unique.
Instead of simply just keeping their original surnames, some couples have decided to combine their two last names. Although it may not be the right option for everyone, these couples are more than happy with their new surnames.
Find out which famous couples took each other’s names…
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1. Brooklyn & Nicola Peltz Beckham
When Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz tied the knot in April 2022, they decided to combine their last names into a new surname and go by Peltz Beckham. Shortly after their wedding, Brooklyn explained that he just thought it was a “different” thing to do as “not many guys take their wives’ names” and they “fit really cool together.”
“We had this idea — we kind of combined our last names,” Brooklyn later told Variety. “I was just like, ‘Oh, we could start a new thing, and it’ll be so cool to have our own kids and have little Peltz Beckhams running around.’”
2. Carlos & Alexa PenaVega
Carlos Pena and Alexa Vega got married back in 2014 and decided they wanted to do something different with their last name. Looking back, Alexa says they loved the idea of combining their two names but they didn’t know how to go about it legally.
“We always loved the idea of making our names PenaVega. We thought that was so cool and we both come from kooky families so we were like, ‘You know what? If we could have a fresh start and be PenaVega, let’s do it. But we didn’t think it was actually possible legally,” Alexa told uInterview.
The couple went on to explain that when they got to the courthouse to file their marriage license, they were asked if they were taking each other’s last name. Carlos and Alexa used the opportunity to write down their new name — even though they weren’t sure if that was the legal procedure. In the end, it worked and they were able to keep their new name.
3. Sam & Aaron Taylor-Johnson
In 2012, Aaron Johnson married his wife Sam Taylor-Wood and they decided to share their last names with one another. The couple opted to join their surnames as Taylor-Johnson, which Sam says was incredibly important to him. Looking back, he admitted that seeing his new name on a movie poster for the first time was a “beautiful” experience that just “felt right.”
“I just don’t see why women need to take the man’s name,” he told the Evening Standard. “I wanted to be a part of her just as much as she wanted to be part of me.”
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4. John & Yoko Ono Lennon
Before John Lennon’s death, he tied the knot with his wife Yoko Ono and they decided to combine their surnames to become Ono Lennon. The couple made things official during a ceremony on top of the Apple building in London.
“Yoko changed her name for me, I’ve changed mine for her. One for both, both for each other. She has a ring, I have a ring. It gives us nine ‘O’s between us, which is good luck. Ten would not be good luck,” John reportedly said at the time.
5. Beyoncé & Jay-Z
Although Beyoncé and Jay-Z have never officially confirmed it themselves, the couple reportedly combined their last names after saying “I do” to have the shared surname Knowles-Carter. Since then, Beyoncé has used the hyphenated last name in various professional settings but Jay-Z has continued to go by his stage name publicly.
6. Clive Standen & Lucy Martin
When Vikings co-stars Clive Standen and Lucy Martin got married, they opted to hyphenate their last names. While they use the name Standen-Marten legally, they have kept their original names professionally.
“I’m still Clive Standen for everything else, but you know, my parcels will say Standen-Martin. It’s not a big deal really, I just think there’s no reason that a woman has to take a man’s name these days, and I think it’s a nice [gesture]. And Lucy has a massive family, and her father has more of a heritage than my side of the family,” Clive told Us Weekly.
He continued, “I have a dad who brought me up since the age of 8, and he has a different name to me. My mum has his name, so I don’t know why I held onto my name so much — maybe because I’m an actor now and people know me like that.”
