Should my married name be on my degree?

View quoted message Thank you Bianca

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I totally understand how you want all your educational documents to have the same name, but people will understand that you have a maiden name and a married name! Definitely do what makes you comfortable and it will be the right decision

View quoted message My pleasure- glad I can help

Dr.B thank you again. I agree with you 100%. I am just finishing up a double major in Kinesiology and Psychology. I have heard the same from a couple of professors about my perfesion. Because it is a perfession with a regulating college it is apperently extremely difficult if your name on your degree is different then your name. I think it would be best to advise the school and have this change made prior to graduation. You have been extremely helpful, thank you

I don’t know about every professional group, but my group has mandated that the name you practice under must match your degree unless you go through a change of name process. It isn’t as easy as using your maiden name on your degree and calling yourself whatever you want

Thank you all! The advice is much appreciated

I think your degree should stay in your maiden name since you did earn it before the marriage. If anyone raises questions/you end up with multiple degrees in different names, I guess you could use your marriage certificate to prove it's still you?

I think you could leave your maiden name on your degree's but when you register under any regulatory bodies use your married name, if you plan on changing your name. It would be like a teacher who over the summer gets married, she starts the new school year as Mrs. ______ but her teaching degree is in her maiden name.

Okay, thank you all!

Dr. B that's what I was afraid of. Thank you for your input!

Also, certain professional licensing bodies require that you practice under your legal name- I was considering just changing it and just going by my maiden name professionally, but it becomes a regulatory nightmare if my licensing body finds out. I didn’t want to have it mandated that I practice under my married name, so I hyphenated and just haven’t told them.

I wish that we got married before I graduated so I could go by my married name. Now, due to the nature of my practice, have established myself under my maiden name and it would be a royal pain in the ass to transition. The compromise was that I hyphenated- I’m Dr maidenname at work and Mrs hisname socially. If you want one name, change it before it goes on any important pieces of paper.

View quoted message I had a doctor who got married after her degree. She still displayed her degree with her maiden name even though she went by married name. I never questioned it.

I agree with Bianca.

I'm in grad school right now and won't be changing my name professionally, just personally, so I'm keeping my maiden name on my degree.

That being said, I work with and know a lot of people who display their degrees with both their maiden and married names on their different degrees. It's pretty much assumed that you got married after one and before the other was conferred.

View quoted message Thank you Bianca! You make a valid point, I am just in the predicament that I will be pursuing my medical degree and it is typical to display your educational documents (degrees & diplomas). I just have concerns of being "Dr.OneThing" and then having a different name on some of the educational documents.

I’d leave it as your maiden name. You earned your degree before you were married, therefore it should reflect that. I’m in that pickle too where I’m finishing my diploma before marriage, but anything finished after will most-likely have my married name.