hi everyone
I will be getting married next year and I have a question about names.
If satchi is my family name and I am Dr Satchi
and say I married Blanc, would I become Mrs Blanc or Dr Blanc?

I'm not sure whether to retain my name or to add it or??
What is the norm now for phders?

Thank you
love satchi

Hi Satchi,
congratulations!

I don't know if there really is a 'norm'. I assume if you change your name you would be Dr Blanc? I didn't change my name when I got married so when (if!) I complete the PhD nothing would change for me - except the title.

If you have already published under your current name, it is better / easier to retain it for professional if not personal use. It makes life more straightforward.

Many professionals keep their maiden name with the Dr title for work and then use their husband's name for their personal life.

However, I think, why change your name at all? (Hindsight - I've learnt this the hard way!)

Hi - I think you can choose. I am married and live in Italy. I haven't changed my name because you don't here. I am Signora Timefor tea. At work I am Dottoressa Timefortea (if you have a degree you are a dr here!) in the UK I am still Miss Timefortea as I never changed my details!

Oh and the friends I have in the uk with a phd haven't changed their "dr" name - they kept the name they had when they were awarded it although some have changed only in their personal not work, life.

hi everyone
thanks for your replies :-) timefortea I think Dottoressa is really cool. I think it's the same in Spain isn't it, everybody is a profesor if they are teaching in a university?

Ok this part about using our married name in our personal life if I did not change my name Dr Satchi but use Mrs Blanc for my personal life that means I don't have to do anything legally. I just leave it as it is?

thanks very much
love satchi

Yes you use both names and you don't have to change anything legally. You can use your maiden name when you are married if you like and that's fine too. Actually you can call yourself anything you like - it's only on official documents such as passports you have to use your legal name.

There's actually an opportunity to separate your professional and personal life here. Professionally, continue to refer to yourself by your maiden name, Dr. Satchi. Outside work, be Mrs. Blanc.

You will have Dr. Satchi on the degree certificate and on any papers you produce. Your publication record will be contiguous if you don't change names.

Outside work, you are Mrs. Blanc and can clearly leave your work where it really should belong. At work (I wish life was so simple sometimes).

Ensure you discuss with your husband-to-be so he is up to speed at least to avoid confusion.

Someone I knew retained the use of her maiden name professionally, which ensured professional contiguity. In her case, it was just as well as the marriage didn't last.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Can you double barrell it, Dr Satchi-Blanc? Exciting to be getting married well done on your doctorate and engagement :) x

hi TreeofLife, Ian, HazyJane, wowzers and everyone

many thanks for your replies :-) I think Satchi-Blanc is a bit long.

Another reason why I started thinking about name changes is because I don't like my first name -- I know this sounds daft -- but I would really like to lose it if I could -- and people who don't know me will refer to me following what my name reads as -- for example I recently went for a job interview and straightaway they used my first name to call me -- which is not wrong of course. So let's say they gave me the job -- then I would have to tell them not to call me by my first name because it's not my preferred name -- but then on every document that first name will still be there.

So I thought since I'm getting married in 2014 I was thinking of dropping my first name as well (I haven't mentioned this in the start of the thread).

What are your thoughts about dropping first names then? I am seriously thinking of this, in fact having my own first name deleted from my documents matters more to me than using my soon-to-be married name!

I think it's really awful not to like your own name but I have been stuck with it for so many years and yes I would like to get rid of it (sorry, don't mean this to be a rant).

Another question I have is -- suppose I change my name -- that is dropping my first name -- do I have to tell people then -- I don't use that name anymore? Is there a nice and subtle way to go around this without sounding like a nutter?

thanks very much
love satchi

I have a lond double barrell only because my family surname is quite unusual so didn't want to loose it and my partners name is one of the most common ha ha.

What name will you use instead? If it is a given name like your second name then you can just drop the first name but if you choose something completely different there is a legal process to go through to get your name legally changed by deed poll I think? I know loads of people that don't use their given first name, it's not that unusual these days but most use a derivative of it or a seond name. I think lots of job applications these days do have sections asking for your preferred name.

My mum doesn't like her first name either. She managed to get her workmates to use her middle name instead when she was younger. So no, you don't sound like a nutter. However, your parents and siblings will always insist on using your original first name so you have an uphill struggle to lose it altogether.

You will have to inform all your utility suppliers, local council, tax, etc. of your change of name as you would do if you want to take your husband's name on marrying. As what you are considering is a reinvention of your identity, then doing this via deed poll may be the way to go - take a look at the following website.

http://www.ukdps.co.uk/

It appears you've made up your mind that once you marry, that you are going to be Mrs. Second-name Blanc. This being the case and you intend a reinvention of your identity, then it may afterall be worth calling yourself Dr. Second-name Blanc as otherwise you'll have three different identities on the go at once and that will be even more confusing.

However, in the unlikely event your marriage doesn't last then bear in mind you will be stuck professionally at least with 'Blanc' as your surname.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

From an academic continuity point of view, changing your first name may be more problematic than your surname. If you say "I've published papers as Jane Satchi and Jane Blanc" people will understand but if it's "Jane Satchi and Jo Blanc" that's going to seem a bit weird.

So you might want to just retain your existing first name and surname for publications and then do whatever else suits in your personal life. Or choose a totally new first name that has the same initial so that you can just sign off papers at J Satchi (or whatever)