Earlier quoted context omitted.
Completely off topic, but I wish this could have just said "my wife uses her own last name" or something like that. It reads like your wife needs an excuse to keep her last name, which I'm sure isn't the case, but is indicative of the weird - slightly misogynistic - society we're in where the default is for women to give up their names at marriage.
(US-centric point of view:) Most women like that part of getting married. They get excited about it. They want their kids to have the same last name as both parents and they want to share the name of their husband. Please try to not turn it into some male domination thing, as so many discussions on here needlessly turn to that. It's like the HN version of "all discussions eventually lead to Hitler," or however that g…
My wife was 18 when we got married. She wasn't "well known". She wasn't a feminist. But she kept her last name and it has never been a problem - except for PayPal.
Our kids have her last name as their middle name and my last name as their last name for convenience - mainly the school's convenience.
Personally I hope some day we go to a system where you turn 18 and pick the name you want. I've known at least two couples where when they got married they didn't choose either name, but took a name for "them". I personally would like to see more of this, but then I'm a bit of a romantic.