If you have kids, you can always go the Spanish route. Kids get last name of both parents without hyphen, e.g. Kidsgivenname Dadlastname Momlastname, with a further example from pro cycling being Alberto Contador Velasco. One other difference in the Spanish system is also that in marriage the woman doesn't change her name, and the kids get the combo last name from both parents. I always kind of liked that system, it seems a bit more logical.
Friends from Puerto Rico (use same naming system) have told me that applications (credit, school, etc.) are not set up to handle two last names without a hyphen, which can cause some bureaucratic stupidity (system takes last name in list, which may suddenly "create" Kidsgivenname Momlastname, while other forms or is typically known by Kidsgivenname Dadlastname).

Is that a joke?

Ah yer being hard on Timboricki... he sums it up well here:
"I guess the important thing is to make sure that the Mr and the Mrs have the same views on this. If the wife wants to keep her name and the husband is cool with this, then go for it. If the husband has initial trepidation, it might wind up being a big deal later. Much like most other things in a marriage, you need to talk about it."

That really is what it is about.

AP

I got married to have kids

I tried to tell him he could change HIS name (so did half his family and friends :p), but he said nope. It's okay...I'm the way cooler one anyway. Can't hand a name like mine to just anyone :p

I get the last name and she gets Jesus. We are even.

I did not have mine changed legally, although when I filled out the wedding license application, I listed my name as Megan Marie DH'sLastName MyLastName (no hyphen). That way, the lingerie are not linked, and I could go by one or the other, or both--in either order.

But like I said, I didn't change mine legally. I do, on occasion, use Gerst Rocker as my last name(s), but by and large I am Megan Rocker everywhere. I never, ever go by Megan Gerst.

I never intended to change my name when I got married. DH made a few half-hearted attempts to convince me to, but when I burst in to tears and hysterics getting the wedding license b/c I didn't want to change it, that was pretty much the end of the discussion :p

My thoughts were this:
1. I like my name. I find it rather awesome.
2. All of my work and whatnot is under my original last name. What's more, most everyone addresses me by that name (including my husband). Very few people call me Megan.
3. I like my name. It is the name I came with.
4. I think the tradition of the wife always taking the husband's last name is silly. I mean, I guess I can see why two people who are married might want the SAME last name, for convenience sake (or for a bonding thing or whatever)...I just don't think it should always be a one-way street. I don't care if OTHER people change their name--but for me, I think it's silly.

Ah yer being hard on Timboricki... he sums it up well here:
"I guess the important thing is to make sure that the Mr and the Mrs have the same views on this. If the wife wants to keep her name and the husband is cool with this, then go for it. If the husband has initial trepidation, it might wind up being a big deal later. Much like most other things in a marriage, you need to talk about it."

While that is totally valid, this is where he loses me:

We have friends in which the wife did not take on the husband's name. Wifey and I both think the husband's are p*ssies.