why is she Melinda French Gates now? it’s not like anyone would suddenly not recognize the name Melinda Gates. Her name was on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Going by Melinda French Gates seems like something one would do if there was already another Melinda Gates, and one needed to differentiate from them.
If she’s smart, she’ll leave the hyphen out. Anyone with a hyphenated name will tell you that’s it’s annoying as fuck. A lot of digital products and records don’t support hyphens and throw errors when they see the character.
No, the vast majority of people who change their last name to their partners’ drop their middle name and replace it with their maiden last name. That’s what my wife did, as well as 95% of the people I know who have done this. This is totally average and not actually the thing you’re trying to make it out to be.
It varies, but when I was younger I saw more women keeping their married names if they had very young children, but mostly just returning to their maiden names. Over the years I’ve noticed less women changing their names when they get married, or instead hyphenating their married name. But this is just observations from one socioeconomic viewpoint, so I can’t make sweeping statements about the majority.
It’s an old-fashioned thing to do. When my cousin got married, my aunt gave her a lot of shit for not doing it, so when I got married, I did it, but I don’t know many people my age who have. I’m 39, also born and raised in Chicago (where my aunt and cousin still live), but I’m in California now. My family also has a bit of money (not a ton, but they’ve always had a decent living) and “family name” type pride, so I’m not sure if that’s a factor.
That and changing your name is actually pretty annoying, and it only gets more annoying when you have a lot of assets with a particular legal name tied to them.
She has lawyers and accountants that will do a lot of the heavy lifting, but it’s still an obnoxious pain the butt.
It’s pretty common to see people change their name when they get married, but come divorce time say “nah, fuck that, I’m not doing that shit again.”
why is she Melinda French Gates now? it’s not like anyone would suddenly not recognize the name Melinda Gates. Her name was on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Going by Melinda French Gates seems like something one would do if there was already another Melinda Gates, and one needed to differentiate from them.
Maybe she just wants to user her previous surname more now that she’s divorced?
Huh
wouldn’t that be Melinda French-Gates?
If she’s smart, she’ll leave the hyphen out. Anyone with a hyphenated name will tell you that’s it’s annoying as fuck. A lot of digital products and records don’t support hyphens and throw errors when they see the character.
No, the vast majority of people who change their last name to their partners’ drop their middle name and replace it with their maiden last name. That’s what my wife did, as well as 95% of the people I know who have done this. This is totally average and not actually the thing you’re trying to make it out to be.
Not trying to be weird, but to understand - roughly what age range and location are you talking about?
I’m a divorced 52yo woman living in the Chicago suburbs and this is news to me.
I’ve never heard of it before either. It doesn’t seem weird to me. Just, the assertion that it’s overwhelmingly common does not sound right.
What do people do where you’re from if they change their name after marriage?
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone doing this, kind of an interesting idea.
My frame of reference is 30-45 year olds in Texas, but also everyone’s parents who are 70+ now. What do people do in Chicago?
It varies, but when I was younger I saw more women keeping their married names if they had very young children, but mostly just returning to their maiden names. Over the years I’ve noticed less women changing their names when they get married, or instead hyphenating their married name. But this is just observations from one socioeconomic viewpoint, so I can’t make sweeping statements about the majority.
It’s an old-fashioned thing to do. When my cousin got married, my aunt gave her a lot of shit for not doing it, so when I got married, I did it, but I don’t know many people my age who have. I’m 39, also born and raised in Chicago (where my aunt and cousin still live), but I’m in California now. My family also has a bit of money (not a ton, but they’ve always had a decent living) and “family name” type pride, so I’m not sure if that’s a factor.
i’m not “trying to make it out” to be anything. i was just curious.
Or if she wanted you to remember who she was (gates) and somehow start to separate herself and distance herself from her former husband.
Many divorced women choose to hyphenate to make a transition of sorts without losing a major part of their identity
as i said in another comment:
in the article (and others about this), her name isn’t hyphenated, and when only referred to by her last name, it’s just “Gates”
Why does the dash matter so much?
without the dash, it seems like it’s her middle name
That doesn’t really matter, though.
Agreed, but like second last name middle name.
A lot of people had names like that where I grew up
i don’t particularly care what she calls herself. i was just curious
Probably to bring French to the forefront after divorcing Bill.
Better question would be why she kept Gates but that’s probably for recognition purposes, I’d guess.
That and changing your name is actually pretty annoying, and it only gets more annoying when you have a lot of assets with a particular legal name tied to them.
She has lawyers and accountants that will do a lot of the heavy lifting, but it’s still an obnoxious pain the butt.
It’s pretty common to see people change their name when they get married, but come divorce time say “nah, fuck that, I’m not doing that shit again.”
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