>>>>I think much more. In most of the marriages one of the partners takes the last name of the other partner. I'd hazard to guess that 5-10% is the percentage of the cases where they keep the names as they were, or one adds the last name of the other.
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>>>I meant to hint that 5-10% of the men take the family name of the woman he marries. Roughly the same percentage is where both parties keep their separate family names after the marriage. In most cases the woman takes the family name of the man, or one of the parties, or both, add the spouse's family name to his/her own family name. In some cases both parties change to a totally new family name.which may have historic or local roots.
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>>Oh, I thought there was this equality of genders in Europe, so it didn't matter which spouse takes which name ;).
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>We have come very far with equality of genders, but old habits and traditions die hard. Another thing is that in many conservative circles, the woman does not even want or dare to ask the question. "So you don't want to change your name, does that mean that you don't believe our marriage will last?"