Definitely! My dad is Dr. MLHDad. He worked hard for the title. When he was in the hospital, we would correct staff when they said Mr. It just sounded so odd.
The funny part was that Dad was my future spouse’s supervising professor and even 38 years later it’s hard for DH not to call him Dr.
My son’s girlfriend of 2 years has the exact same first and middle name as one of my daughters, she lives an hour from here. They are the same age, but a month apart (he’s 3 years older). My son is named after my husband’s dad, so we’ve had issues with that. All of the names are very common.
My dentist has at least one other patient with the same 1st and last name as me so we always make sure we provide bdays so they have correct chart.
The year I graduate HS, 2 other girls also graduated from different schools. Both had same 1st name and same last name as my maiden name. One went to same college and ended up taking my registration packet because it had her/my name. She and I also coincidentally went to same U as exchange students as sophomores and lived in same dorm!
A guy with the same first and last name as my husband looked at our house when we were selling it by owner. We all agreed it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for him to buy it!
There’s someone with H’s name in town. He isn’t or wasn’t a good person. We would get calls from angry husbands because he was sleeping with their spouses. We got a calls from the IRS, creditors, etc. it hasn’t happened in awhile thank goodness.
My name sounds similar to MIL and we have the same middle name. We go to the same GYN and occasionally they’ve left messages for each other on our answering machines.
And once someone with MIL’s name died in our city. She only lived a couple of streets over. We had no idea. That was weird seeing her name in the obituaries.
I kept my name, DH kept his. We gave the kids hyphenated (mine-his). No problems for doctors’ visits, international travel, etc. I use the kids’ last name when I communicate with others via Carpool sign ups, group text messages, etc. so they know who we are. Most of my friends in grad school did not change their names, but my friends who didn’t go to grad school did. I think it was probably due to getting married in early- to mid-20s vs. early- to mid-30s.
The downsides for the kids’ hyphenated last names have been with the rise of digital platforms, the hypen is a pain in the behind. Also, we had DD25 a bit before the rise of the internet and unfortunately they are the only people in the world with their last name. So, highly Google-able. They’ll have to be careful with the internet, but so will everyone.
I kept my last name and H’s. No hyphen, just two last names. Maryland DMV, six Sec and the passports office didn’t know what to do with it, so those are mostly First Birth Marriage. on the docs. Didn’t drop my actual middle name, and that’s how I sign most docs – First Middle, Birth Marriage.
S1’s first spouse kept her name. She uses a variation of her last name as her ‘handle’ in the computer engineering and writing worlds. She finds the handle more androgynous and finds she gets more and better feedback when other software engineers don’t know her gender.
If S1 ever remarries, I suspect he and his partner may create a new last name. I definitely don’t see her changing it to his.
I also used to be “Mrs. S2’sMom” when I volunteered in his 2nd grade classroom! The little guy who called me that was the one to whom I explained the difference between ‘then’ and ‘than.’ He was one of those squirmy, kinetic kids who was still figuring out classroom life, and when he understood my explanation, he lit up and you could see the wheels turning and pieces clicking into place. It was such a thrill to see his excitement.
S2’s new spouse is keeping her name – her dad died when she was nine and she’s the last of the line. Wants to keep her proud Ukrainian name.
My nephew has a hyphenated last name (two PhD parents) . He told my son he was not crazy about it. If you would google him, he is the only one to show up. Luckily, it’s all good!
??? No kids?
No, we did not have children, if that is you are asking. So, did not discuss what we would have done in terms of children’s last names with us both keeping our own birth last names. 
I did take my DHs name when we married, moving my maiden name to my middle name. I’d been in practice with my maiden name for several years before marrying so signed everything that was professional with “Dr. Firstname Maiden name Married name”. Finally, eventually just did Dr. First name, Middle initial (of maiden name) Last name. But my favorite story is when my sibling and I were at a birthday party celebration for our mom. It was sometime during that time after I got my degree but before I married. Someone at the party called out for “Dr. Maidenname” and both my sibling and I turned around and responded. I think our mom had died and gone to heaven!!
Hyphenated names in England (and perhaps in some other places) were common when the wife’s family was richer and/or more powerful than the husband’s and so they did not want to lose the connection to the richer and/or more powerful family. If the husband’s family was the richer/more powerful, they would just use the husband’s name.
In general, hyphenation is not a permanent solution as the next generation would have to hyphenate two hyphenated names and the length of the last name would increase as a power of 2.
If a hyphenated man marries a hyphenated woman, that discussion could get interesting!
I kept my last name legally in the 80’s but kids have my husband 's last name. Socially, I often have used husband’s last name with school, friends of kids, neighbors, etc. My daughter in law changed her name to my son’s last name.
I kept my maiden name as a 2nd middle name – or so I thought.
After marriage, my new SS card indicated FirstName, MiddleInitial, MaidenName, SpouseName. I liked my last name; it was part of me, but I also wanted to become a new social unit, and it was more common in the dark ages to change the bride’s last name. I used only SpouseName as my last.
Many years after marriage, the IRS sent a letter saying my taxes must reflect my full last name: MaidenName and SpouseName. Ok, Whatever. So from then on, my last name became a dual last name with no hyphen, at least for tax and related financial documents. The last name on my professional license and most other official documents remained only SpouseName.
Until TSA shenanigans. When I applied for my passport renewal, for some reason it was returned with dual last name, no hyphen.
So then my driver’s license and passport did not match. Driver’s license still included MaidenName as a middle name. Last name was SpouseName (only).
Then came enhanced driver’s license. I was finally able to convince DMV I was one and the same person, and they begrudgingly added MaidenName to SpouseName on the new license (no hyphen).
It has been a lengthy process to make sure all documents are updated. What a mess. I left my professional license alone. Airlines sometimes use only one last name on the boarding pass (even though I reserve using both last names to match my travel documents). Health Insurance forms have both last names, but MD offices often seek and file only under one of them. I need to explain at nearly every visit, how to find my file.
Several years ago, when filing my taxes, the accountant filed with only SpouseName as my last name. I explained that the IRS would not accept that, and it needed to have the full last name. She said the electronic IRS forms would not allow a dual last name!!!
DD decided to keep her original name after marriage.
I think something similar caused my delta airlines account to have some snafu with my passport. Hey could never seem to get it fixed but I was mostly worried that it wound prevent me from getting digital ID and it didn’t. So whew.
I have a common first name, and I use my maiden name as my last name. After my mother’s death, my father remarried, to a woman who had the same first name as me. When she died, the memorial service was in honor of our dearly departed MyFirstName My LastName, which was really her. My kids – 9 and 13 at the time – thought that was hysterical.
My father had predeceased her, but she continued living in their house. When she died and both her children and my sister and I went through the things in the house, we were all very careful to make sure his things came to us and her things went to them – except for a set of notepads she had that had my [her!] name at the top of them!!
Since this is Hispanic Heritage Month, perhaps this kind of thing may illustrate what some Hispanic or Latino people encounter from IT systems (and people who do not understand the two surname convention), and why many in the US do not formally use the two surname convention.
D1 is a clinical psychologist who has been published many many times. She kept her name for that reason.
D2 has taken her husband’s name, though I think she has been dragging her feet with all of the paperwork.
I took my husband’s “easier” last name because mine was such a pain. As it turns out, people get our last name wrong (they add a letter to it because that name is even more common) just as often as people got my maiden name wrong. Go figure.
The IRS electronic forms definitely allow two last names (I can attest from personal experience) but the thing that really drives me crazy is that (in a heterosexual marriage) if the husband is not listed as “taxpayer” and the wife is not listed as “spouse,” the whole system apparently breaks down. When I this article came out, I learned I’m not the only one who fumes about this.
Gifted link: https://wapo.st/46imYYT
I once put my social security number on our check instead of H’s. Months later I got a letter saying that we hadn’t paid and adding a penalty. The check was cashed, but not credited to our taxes.