Why do wives in Europe and America take their husbands' surnames?

In America, Europe and other western countries, this is a traditional custom. In ancient China, a woman should add her husband's surname before her own after marriage. This custom has been maintained in Hongkong until today. The main reason why women take their husbands' surnames is the low status of women.

Historically, the tradition that women take their husbands' surnames after marriage comes from faith and is regulated by law. Most Americans are Christians. According to the Bible, when a man and a woman get married, they will become one. It is a symbol that a woman takes her husband's surname after marriage, which naturally becomes a cultural tradition. At the same time, before 1972, it was legal for a woman to take her husband's surname after marriage. For example, the law stipulates that married women must use their husband's surname when voting, and they cannot vote without their husband's surname; To open a bank account, you must also use your husband's surname and become the owner.

Extended data:

In ancient China, wives' surnames, crowns' surnames and husbands' surnames were roughly formed during the Han and Wei Dynasties, and became popular in the late Southern Dynasties. The reason is that it is estimated that there is a direct causal relationship with the formation of family organizations in aristocratic families. Especially in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties, living with the same clan in the manor has become the main form of family survival and development in the war years.

As one of the ways to strengthen the cohesion between the family and all members in the body, it is obviously necessary to determine the wife's husband's name as the principle of address, and its side effects will inevitably further strengthen the wife's personal attachment to her husband's family.

1In May, 929, the Nanjing National Government promulgated Section 3 of Part IV of the Civil Code, Article 1000, which made a legal statement on "the crown surname of husband and wife" for the first time: "A wife takes her own surname as her husband's surname. A married husband uses his real surname to address his wife's surname. However, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, this restriction shall not apply.

1933 and 1944, the Ministry of the Interior successively revised and promulgated the rules of changing the name and surname and Guan surname. Article 4 of the Detailed Rules stipulates that the condition for applying for a crown surname must be "non-Han nationality, but with China surname", which shows that this is the only exception of "husband and wife crown surname".

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-women follow their husbands' surnames