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Not long ago, nearly all women took their husband's names. Although that's no longer the case, the percentage of females who keep their maiden monikers is still lower than we expected. This article from Slate.com, entitled "The Maiden Name Debate," explains that the number of women who keep their names fell 6% from 1990 to 2000. According to the article, which cites a Harvard study based on Massachusetts birth records, 17% of college-educated women kept their names in 2000, down from 23% a decade earlier. Professor Claudia Goldin, who conducted the study with a student, has a few
theories regarding the decline. One contends that the institution of marriage is becoming more conservative, hence the return of more traditional naming conventions. Of course, others would disagree, citing the debate over gay marriage as evidence marriage is actually becoming more liberal. Goldin mentions the numbers may also reflect "a maturing of the gains won by the women's movement." Or perhaps the trend is a way to "bind their new families together." After all, it can be argued a shared name brings about a certain closeness. Of course, those are just theories. Nobody pretends to know for sure, and seeing as the study focused solely on Massachusetts, the numbers may be completely different in other parts of the country.
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