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Discussion October 19, 2026 · 13:43 · 8 min

Should Christian wives take their husband's last name?

  • Should Christian wives take their husband's last name?

Ben raises a Christian Post question that came up in his house six months ago: should Christian wives take their husband's last name — and why is this a Christian question at all? He can find no biblical reference for it: it's personal preference, nothing to do with Jesus. He does want a shared identity ('you're one person... don't confuse your kids'), and hyphening loses the feeling of 'we're doing this thing together.' The G-sound analogy carries the segment: if everyone agreed G makes 'guh,' demanding it make an N sound is a weird game — the real question is what makes you want to jack with the convention. A couple taking the wife's surname prompts suspicion about the implied motives, though a man who took his wife's name to continue her family line (no sons) gets a pass — 'you're not trying to redefine the G.' Silas: 'can we just be normal?' Dan notes that in a functioning marriage the woman runs the place anyway. Ben closes with a complaint-line prompt: if you could choose a different last name, what would you go with — 'Mrs Derriere.'

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