Maiden Name Mysteries
- Leslie Ryan
- May 6
- 3 min read
Many is the afternoon I have spent gnashing my teeth over the Maiden Name Mysteries. Why, why do women historically take their husband's surname when theirs would be just fine?
This tradition has been much in the news lately in the US due to the SAVE acts introduced to keep non-citizens from being able to vote. These proposed laws require that your name on your passport, license, and birth certificate must match, or you will need to provide further documentation that you are you. This means many married women will have to go to the County Clerk where they were married to get an official copy of their marriage license, which is not free. And what if she has moved? This equates to paying a fee (Poll Tax) to vote, which is illegal in the US.
So how did this name changing get started? Blame the English and their law of "Coverture." Rich families were the first to use surnames and this practice started to be used in the 14th Century poll taxes. Coverture guaranteed that the husband got possession of EVERYTHING the wife owned when the got married. She surrendered her entire legal identity.
The Romans had a similar legal system, but the wife maintained ownership and the husband could "manage" it. By the 19th Century the English practice had moved across Europe and to the American Colonies.
Per the Women's History Museum, under coverture, "...Because they did not legally exist, married women could not make contracts or be sued, so they could not own or work in businesses. Married women owned nothing, not even the clothes on their backs. They had no rights to their children, so that if a wife divorced or left a husband, she would not see her children again.
"Married women had no rights to their bodies. That meant that not only would a husband have a claim to any wages generated by his wife’s labor or to the fruits of her body (her children), but he also had an absolute right to sexual access. Within marriage, a wife’s consent was implied, so under the law, all sex-related activity, including rape, was legitimate. His total mastery of this fellow human being stopped short, but just short, of death. Of course, a man wasn’t allowed to beat his wife to death, but he could beat her."
Mississippi became the first state to begin to unravel the US coverture laws in 1839, but it was not until 1974 that a woman could get a credit card in her own name across the United States!
This system of patriarchy (men rule) is why we have so many maiden name mysteries in our family trees. Here are some things I do to overcome this problem:
1. Look for a marriage license in the county they married. If you're lucky, you'll find more family info! This license from 1923 shows the parents of the happy couple too!
2. The death certificates in some states include the parents' names and where they were born.
3. Birth records of their children.
4. Search in newspapers for marriage announcements and obituaries may contain her parents' names, especially if they were rich and or famous.
5. Family history books, or local history books, although these often contain history that is not directly from a direct family source or are glossed up to make a better story.
6. Use the Full Text Search tool now found at all of the big family history sites.
What other tools do you use? If I can help you with your maiden name mysteries or any other mystery in your tree, send me an email at the address below! We offer a free review of your brick wall to see if we can help.
Wishing all of you a Happy Mother's Day. I hope you have a treasure trove of memories that can be added to if you are lucky enough to have yours in your life.
Thank you for sharing your time with me,
Leslie Ryan
Further reading about historical patriarchy and coverture:
The Women's History Museum
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