On the Legal Side: State Laws that Explicitly Allow a Man to Take his Wife's Name
To be fair, that headline actually means "to take his wife's name with the same relative level of ease that a woman has in changing her name upon marriage instead of having to go through a lot of court and publication shenanigans."
"One or both parties to a marriage may elect to change the surname by which he or she wishes to be known after the solemnization of the marriage... [to] (i) the surname of the other spouse; or (ii) any former surname of either spouse; or (iii) a name combining into a single surname all or a segment of the premarriage surname or any former surname of each spouse; or (iv) a combination name separated by a hyphen, provided that each part of such combination surname is the premarriage surname, or any former surname, of each of the spouses."
"(b) Every application for a marriage license shall contain a statement to the following effect:
NOTICE TO APPLICANTS
(1) Every person has the right to adopt any name by which he or she wishes to be known simply by using that name consistently and without intent to defraud.
(2) A person's last name (surname) does not automatically change upon marriage, and neither party to the marriage must change his or her last name. Parties to a marriage need not have the same last name.
(3) One or both parties to a marriage may elect to change the surname by which he or she wishes to be known after the solemnization of the marriage by entering the new name in the space below. Such entry shall consist of one of the following surnames:
(i) the surname of the other spouse; or
(ii) any former surname of either spouse; or
(iii) a name combining into a single surname all or a segment of the premarriage surname or any former surname of each spouse; or
(iv) a combination name separated by a hyphen, provided that each part of such combination surname is the premarriage surname, or any former surname, of each of the spouses.
(4) The use of this option will have the effect of providing a record of the change of name. The marriage certificate, containing the new name, if any, constitutes proof that the use of the new name, or the retention of the former name, is lawful.
(5) Neither the use of, nor the failure to use, this option of selecting a new surname by means of this application abrogates the right of each person to adopt a different name through usage at some future date."
"Married persons; civil union partners. Upon marriage or civil union, each of the parties to a marriage or partners in a civil union shall declare the middle and last names each will use as a married person or civil union partner. The last name or names chosen may be any middle or last name legally used at any time, past or present, by either spouse or partner, or any combination of such names, which may, but need not, be separated by a hyphen. The middle name or names chosen may be any middle or last name legally used at any time, past or present, by either spouse or partner, or any combination of such names, which may, but need not, be separated by a hyphen."
Other state law citations: GA. CODE ANN. § 19-3-33.1 (1999); IOWA CODE ANN. § 595.5 (2001); LA. CIV. CODE ANN. art. 100 (2002); MASS. ANN. LAWS ch. 46, § ID (1991); N.D. CENT. CODE § 14-03-20.1 (1996).