So, if - let's say - Lois Lane and Clark Kent marry, which will be the family names? (I'm asking for options, not for the acutal case!)

1) Both keep their respective name.
2) Lois Lane becomes Lois Lane-Kent or Lois Kent.

What I want to know: Is it theoretically possible that...
3) Clark Kent becomes Clark Lane
or 4) Clark Kent becomes Clark Kent-Lane (or Lane-Kent, for that matter)
5) both take the name Lane-Kent or Kent-Lane (can they even choose differently, as in Lois Lane-Kent and Clark Kent-Lane?)

Thanks in advance!

No idea about laws, but given how anybody may change their name anyway... 3-5 would be possible. Not traditional. But possible.

/me votes for Mrs. and Mr. Lois and Clark Lane

Michael

Actually, it's not about Lois and Clark... They were just examples.

/Eyes grow wide/ Hmmmmmmm

Michael

I have a old friend from high school whose last name was Titus, he married a woman whose last name was Dahl.

They have since been known as Mr. and Mrs. Titusdahl, no hyphens.

I guess that just means you can do pretty much whatever you want as long as you legally register the name.

Tank (who thinks it's fine for people to keep their own names after marriage but finds strange amalgams rather pointless)

I've heard of some husbands taking their wives name as the first half of a hyphenated name: herlastname-hislastname. The only example I can think of right off is Julian Fellowes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Fellowes

And there are some couples who opt to take on an entirely different last name that is symbolic (for them) of them becoming a unique entity. (A local UU minister and his wife did that. Their last names became their new middle names. I bet their descendants will hate them - especially the ones doing genealogy.)

I assume you can change your name to whatever you want.... my mother is an interesting example...

Here's basically what she did:
Kelly Jane Smith married John Doe -> Jane Smith Doe

She always went by her middle name instead of her given name... so when she got married she dropped the name she hated, lol.

Wouldn't it be funny if, after both of them chose to be called Lane-Kent, their offspring then grew up to marry somebody else with a hyphenated last name? You could conceivably have someone with a name like Lane-Kent-Smith-Jones...


'Toc

I doubt that this is stil relevant but I can't sleep so...

I'm hispanic and while I've never heard of a man taking on his wifes last name women usually go like this (slight tranlation)

Jane Doe marries John Smith she becomes Jane Doe of Smith

Also what usually happens when they have a child that child would both last names with the fathers last name coming first followed by the mothers. When they get married the woman drops the mothers last name, like if this couple had a child it could be something like this

Ana Smith Doe she married bill white she is now ana smith of white and their son will be named Charles white smith.

I have two last names so ive had to explain this a lot. Oddly my parents had the same last name so I have the same last name twice. It was really fun explaining to my classmates that my parents are not related.

As everyone has said, "Clark" could very well change his name. From eHow:

If you're a man changing your name at marriage, check your marriage certificate to see if there is a space to indicate a name change. If not, you will need court papers to legally change your name. Contact a local attorney to find out the procedure for name changing in your state. (This is not necessary for women.)

Whatever they change to has to be done on the marriage certificate. They balked when I went to change my name because I'd signed my maiden name on the certificate. But I had figured I wasn't married yet, so why should I sign a name that's not yet mine?? All they did was tell me I did wrong, and then changed it anyway.

Titusdahl! I love it!

In Sweden, it is not unheard of for a man to take his wife's name, and in fact I know two men who have done it. In my country, names ending with '-son' are the most common ones, but therefore they are not regarded as really 'good' or 'noble' names. Oh, there's nothing wrong with them, but if one spouse is going to drop her (or his) last name when getting married, it could in fact be the husband who drops his '-son' name if his wife has another kind of name. I know of two couples who took the wife's name. When Annika Ekman married Thomas Johansson, it was Thomas who dropped his name and became an 'Ekman'. They later divorced, but he is still Thomas Ekman. And I know of another couple, Christina Sjöström and Anders Svensson, who are now Mr. and Mrs. Sjöström.

Ann

This depends on the state, I think. I married in Florida, and I was required to sign my complete maiden name on the certificate. There was no place to indicate whether I would be changing my name or not. After the wedding, I changed my name by showing the relevant agencies (DMV, etc) the certificate, but I had chosen not to do that my name never would have changed.