>Sometimes a man's name is all he has that's worthy to offer to his bride. So now even that is being cheapened.
>

If that's all he has, why is she marrying him. Surely she must feel he has something to offer her.

Aside from that, what makes the man's name so much more valuable than the woman's? FWIW, though I changed my surname at marriage, my husband's surname is an Ellis Island special while my father's goes back many generations and is associated with quite a few people of note, including:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Ezekiel -- my grandfather's brother
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Jacob_Ezekiel--a distant cousin (like 1st cousin, 4 times removed or something)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Racist_Mind -- written by my father's brother

Giving up that name was a hard choice and I do still carry it as a middle name.

Tamar