The Spiritual Meaning Of Changing Your Last Name After Marriage
Changing your last name is more than just tradition.
Ironika | Shutterstock For many newlyweds, one of the most poignant symbols of the joining of two lives in marriage is when a bride changes her last name. Some brides, however, might view it as just a formality or tradition. Often, it's explained away as merely convenient should a couple have children. The truth is much bigger than that, however.
According to the spiritual advisors at Nebula, names carry much more significance than simply being identifiers for legal documents. A new bride not only changes her numerology life path by taking on a new name, but she also takes on the ancestral energy and karma of another family.
Changing your last name after marriage is much more powerful than many people realize.
Advisors at Nebula explained that, historically, changing your last name after marriage was never just seen as being part of the tradition of handing over your life to your husband. In fact, in many different cultures, taking on your partner's last name can symbolize a "transition from one lineage to another." You are letting go of your childhood life and entering a rebirth. It can also be viewed as an "acceptance of a new social status," or "moving into the energetic field of the husband."
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"In many spiritual traditions, our names are believed to carry a lot of weight. On one hand, it could bestow a certain energy: define a person’s role, position, and even their challenges in life. On the other hand, remember Shakespeare’s 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet?' Even today, different people attribute different levels of significance to such things," Nebula advisors explained.
What is integral to understanding the spiritual meaning of changing your last name, according to the experts, is the motivation the new bride had for doing so. Was she excited about the change and ready to embrace a new identity, or was the decision a struggle, a sense of losing one's identity? Both scenarios carry very different energy, although they can both offer positive growth through change.
Changing your last name could shift your Destiny number in numerology.
In numerology, your last name, along with your first and middle names, form your Destiny number. Your Destiny Number is the sum of the numerical values assigned to each letter in your name.
First, you'll need to write out your full name in its entirety, assigning a number to each letter of the alphabet:
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Obviously, if you change your last name after marriage, your destiny number changes as well. It can lead you on a completely different path in life, including a softening or amplifying of your personality, new paths for development, and even shift the nature of your life lessons.
Nebula experts shared, "For example, a woman has a maiden name that adds up to 9. This number symbolizes wisdom, altruism, and inner knowledge. Say, she takes her husband’s last name, which results in the number 1 — this one represents initiative, leadership, and new beginnings. This change shifts the energy. Her life may start moving in a wholly different direction.
Changing your last name can also affect your karma.
Nebula advisors explained that in some cultures, a last name carries the karma of a family line. When a woman takes her husband's last name, she ends up inheriting both the strengths and karmic debts of her husband's lineage.
It's why many spiritual practitioners encourage women to do ancestral work before changing their last name, exploring the family history of the person they're marrying, understanding the kind of energies that they could possibly be stepping into, and reflecting on whether or not they even want to take on a new family identity.
Women are now choosing to keep their own last names after getting married.
According to a survey from the Pew Research Center, while the tradition of women changing their names upon marriage is still strong in the U.S., views on marriage have been changing. Most married women in opposite-sex relationships — nearly 80% — said they took their husband’s last name. Meanwhile, 14% said they kept their own last name, and 5% hyphenated with their husband’s last name.
Women who were not married were less likely to report plans to take their partner’s last name. Only 33% said they would, whereas 23% said they would keep their own last name, 17% would hyphenate both, and 24% were not sure.
Changing your last name after marriage is a personal decision, and it should not be taken lightly. Every woman needs to weigh the ramifications of their choice because it will involve grieving your previous identity. Whether it's a cherished tradition or a spiritual plan, it's never the name that ends up defining the marriage, but the love, care, and trust that exists between the two people who made a lasting commitment to each other.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
