I did. My Man wanted me to, I wasn't that attached to my maiden name, and because he's Eastern European (we both have good taste, Airen!) and I'm Mediterranean, we both have LONG complicated last names with funny spelling. It would have been unfair to give that huge name, hyphenated to a child, or even use it myself. So, I took his. Most of my friends and clients who use both names don't use a hyphen anymore, they just use their own name.

I didn't realize you had to contact the SS office when you got married. I got married fairly young and just thought it "happened" They took my money for well over a decade with the wrong name. I didn't change my name officially for Social Security until only a few years ago. My driver license expired, then I didn't have a birth certificate, and my SS number was under the wrong name. It was a pain in the ass to do after the fact. If I had it to do over, I would have done it all at the same time.