Does The Bride Have to Take The Husband’s Last Name According to Scripture?

Hi Dr. Easley! I listen to your show each week with my mom. I am a 19 year old freshman in college. My question is does the bride have to take the husband’s last name according to the Bible? What is the significance of the husband’s last name and not the bride’s last name? I look forward to hearing your response!

Excerpt From The Answer

“From a cultural perspective, one could argue there is no “maiden name.” I.e., a woman has her father’s last name. Even her mother retained her name, hyphenated it, etc. it is still her father’s name. So, if the reason is to retain your maiden name, that’s a consideration. 

Genesis 2:24 says, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.’ In a word, this passage points to solidarity. They are one. So the name, from God the Father to the man, to the wife, is clear, they are one. The reason we see the father of the bride giving his daughter away reenacts the garden of God presenting her to the man. In sum, people will do what they want. But I think Scripture is the beautiful depiction of what God designed in His creation and the two becoming one is illustrated by two having one name, and in the Genesis account, it is the man’s name.”

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