This story is a few months old but nonetheless is still astounded me.  A California couple actually had to sue the city in order to get the groom’s last name changed to that of the bride.  Michael Buday wanted to change his last name to his wife’s partly because he felt closer to his wife’s family than his own.

He discovered it would take a $US350 fee, court appearances, a public announcement and mounds of paperwork to make a change on his driving license that is routine for women who marry.

After months of frustration, the Los Angeles computer programmer and his ER nurse wife Diana [Bijon], 29, took their problem to the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

A double barrel name would have been no problem, nor would Diana and Michael deciding to each keep their birth names. But California and some 40 other US states provided no place on the marriage license application, and driving license, for the groom to choose the bride’s surname.

I suppose there’s probably not a huge demand for husbands that want their wives names, so I get that it’s not an option on the license application (although it should be), but when someone specifically requests it, it makes no sense to me that request wouldn’t be fulfilled.  I mean what difference does it make?  Or are we only okay with women being the ones to give up part of their identities?