Bride refused to take fiancé’s surname because her name would sound like 'Thomas Thomasson.' Then his mom asked to change her first name instead

Names are a big part of a person's identity, which is why a bride (u/seaflounder8147) wasn’t thrilled about sounding like a comic book character after marrying her fiancé. On September 14, 2026, the 30-year-old took to Reddit to share how she and her partner's decision to change their last names has her in-laws fuming. "My first name and his last name start with the same word. It would be equivalent to changing my name to Thomas Thomasson," the bride wrote, explaining why she was particularly interested in a name change. However, things became complicated when her in-laws threatened to skip the wedding if their son changed his last name instead of only the bride. The post has received over 900 upvotes.

'Horrified' parents-in-law

When the author told her parents about their decision to change their last names, they were okay with it. However, her fiancé's parents were "horrified." The couple broke the news over the phone because her in-laws were personalizing a monogrammed wedding item and needed to know their new names beforehand. The bride didn't share a wonderful bond with her in-laws, but their reaction to the name change came as a shocker. "I’m divorced. They've never loved that but never voiced their thoughts with more than a comment here and there that hurt my feelings," the bride confessed.

Instead of supporting their decision to change last names, the groom's parents threatened not to attend the wedding. 10 minutes later, his brother called and accused them of making his mom cry. Things got even more complicated when her fiancé's mom texted an apology, but an hour later, she came up with a solution that she felt was more appropriate. "She thinks the better solution is to change my first name instead of us both changing our last name," the author said.

Mom wanted to 'remember the person she gave birth to'

When the author and her partner refused, her future mother-in-law resorted to emotional blackmail. She sent the couple baby photos of her fiancé and asked her "not to change his birth certificate for a few weeks" so she could get a new one "to remember the person she gave birth to." The bride sarcastically pointed out that her MIL had a married daughter who had changed her last name, and she seemed to have no problem "remembering" her.

Recently, the author and her fiancé attended a house party from the groom's side. There, his immediate family ignored her and made it awful and awkward. They didn't even answer her questions and began talking badly about her partner. They questioned his manliness. They even brought God into the conversation, saying he wouldn't approve of his decision to change his name, and ultimately said that the author didn't bring out "the man God wants him to be." Despite all this, the author and her fiancé stayed firm in their decision to change their names. The bride believed names were theirs, and they got to decide what to do with them.

When he takes her name

Getting a new last name after marriage isn't rare, especially for women. In fact, a 2023 Pew Research Center Survey found that 79% of married women took their spouse's last name, while only 14% kept their last name. Similarly, 5% hyphenated both their name and their spouse’s name after marriage. Another study by Emily Fitzgibbons Shafer surveyed 877 men. It found that only 3% (27 men) changed their last names. Of these, 25 men dropped their last names to take their wife's last name, while 2 hyphenated their last names. As per Shafer's study, no respondents reported creating a new family name. This could be one reason why the fiancé's family found it so difficult to accept the name change. It was completely out of the ordinary, and not many men change their last names to their wife's.

'Use it as a conversation starter'

Meanwhile, people called out the family's behavior and left several hilarious suggestions in the comments. For example, u/Fearless_Spite_550 wrote, "For fun, you should keep your first name and your last name, and he should take your last name. I bet his family won’t like that either." u/LeopardBrilliant8000 shared, "For what it’s worth. I know a Kelly Kelley. She owns it and uses it as a conversation starter. She knows it’s ridiculous. That said. It’s your name and your life. Change your name to whatever you want."

More on Scoop Upworthy

Woman catches fiancé’s mom snooping, responds with epic hidden notes

Every woman should ask their husband one question before taking his name, says Millennial

Woman takes her husband's name after countless interview rejections — and immediately lands a job