I don’t think that changing or keeping your last name is a huge issue. However, how your future spouse reacts to this is important. It’s not unreasonable for a woman to keep her last name for a variety of reasons. But it’s unreasonable for a man to throw a huge fit over this. After all, she’s not his property and her keeping her last name shouldn’t seem like a threat to his manhood; and if it is, that’s a red flag.

One thing I never understood is when single mothers who raised the kid 90% of the time gave their kids the fathers’ last names despite those men barely or never being present in the kids’ lives.