My wife was delighted to take my name. She is called Carmel and her maiden name is Shaw so she was C Shaw (for those for whom English is a second language this sounded like seashore i.e. beach). There are many considerations when giving up ones own name such as people will no longer find it as easy locating you (if they only knew you before the name change) or some people find personal identity is an issue. Some even think of it as an outdated misogynistic practice (not an issue for us as we are both quite aware in the equality that we have including when we aren't equal on a practical level).

I am not particularly interested in any of these issues today but I am interested in another one: if a person takes on their partners surname or even changes it to an agreed mutually changed name like Steph (regardless of the legal whys and wherefores), how will this reflect in their professional career? What if they are published?