Ten per cent of women who got married last year decided to retain their maiden surname, according Public Registry figures seen by The Sunday Times of Malta.

The figures show that out of the 3,537 women who wed last year, 391 kept their surname; the rest, 3,146, opted to take their husband’s family name according to tradition.

Contrary to public perception, women are not becoming keener on embracing the feminist option. Rather, the number of women who adopt their husband’s name is actually going up.

In 2011 the number of women who kept their surname was marginally higher than last year, with 12 per cent opting not to take their husband’s surname. In 2010 the figure stood at 12.5 per cent.

Many women who started out with the intention of keeping their maiden surname felt they should adopt their husband’s when they had children to avoid confusion.

Up to a couple of decades ago, a woman had no choice but to take on her husband’s surname.

However, Chapter 16, Article 4 of the Civil Code states that a woman can opt to either: take her husband’s surname; retain her maiden surname; take her husband’s surname to which she may add her maiden’s surname; retain her maiden surname to which she may add her husband’s surname.

Cultural and social pressure seems to be the most common reason for women to change names.

The idea of parents having different surnames is still culturally not widely accepted. Faye Camilleri Preziosi, née Chemin, 40, kept her maiden surname for five years.

“I rather liked it. I had established myself at work in the UK and did not want to confuse things by changing my name, particularly to one which was longer and harder to pronounce,” she said.

However she did not like the idea of her husband and children having a different name to hers.

“As a family I wanted us all to have the same name, so I changed my name once we started planning to have kids,” she said.

Most women who talked to The Sunday Times of Malta subscribe to the idea of the whole family having the same surname.

Rosalie Sammut, née Zarb, 37, said that was the only reason she took up ‘Sammut’.

“We were planning to have children and I did not want to be the only one with a different surname. But I have to say that in the beginning it was quite difficult to get used it.”

The few women who resist the pressure often do so as a feminist decision or as a move for equality in their relationship.

Louisa Eminyan, 34, chose to keep her maiden surname on a point of principle.

“My surname happens to be quite unique, but even if I had a normal surname, I would have kept it. It’s all about identity.

“I don’t see why I have to take my husband’s surname on marriage – what do I suddenly become, my husband’s property?”

Her husband, she said, had no difficulty with her viewpoint and that helped, although his family were “surprised” that she was not going to become a ‘Cachia’.

What frustrates her these days is that they still receives invitations addressed as ‘Mr and Mrs Cachia’.

“Even from people who know that I kept my surname – and that irritates me because it feels as though there is something wrong with retaining your surname,” she said.

“It has absolutely nothing to do with how I feel about marriage.”

Her son has her husband’s surname, but she is confident that different surnames do not affect children. “Yes, he’ll have questions, and I’ll answer,” she said.

Marisa Ford’s daughter has already been asking questions. “When we got married 10 years ago, I kept my surname for sentimental reasons; my parents passed away, so the surname would have disappeared from the face of Malta,” she said.

Her daughter is ‘Zammit Lupi’. “To add Ford to that would have been a bit of a mouthful,” she said. But the girl started to question why her mother is not also a ‘Zammit Lupi’.

“When I explained to her that when she grows up and marries she can chose whether to keep her daddy’s surname or her husband’s she immediately told me: ‘I’ll definitely keep mine!’”

Anthropologists know of no world cultures in which men uniformly take on their wives’ family names upon marriage. However, over the past five years, some US states are allowing a man to take his wife’s name after his wedding.

In the rest of the world there are some variations in the naming traditions for wives and children.

In Spain and South America, many married women traditionally retain their birth names and children get the surnames of both parents. Muslim women in several Middle Eastern nations retain their own names after marriage out of respect for their fathers.

Registrations entered in the Public Registry (Malta and Gozo) indicating the choice made by brides.
     
Year Took man’s surname Kept own surname
     
2010 2306 331
2011 2573 350
2012 3146 391

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