>>>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?"
There's that... it is a really sensitive moment, specially as they're leaving the terrain of galantry and gentlemanly / ladylike behavior while courting and coming to real life decisions. And if they want to get married but still never talked about issues of equality... they'll need luck.
On the other hand, I know of a case where, among all the possible combinations (nine of them, IIRC - either one can keep, swap or take both), the couple decided to swap last names... which were the same anyway, Petrović and Petrović :).