Additional Coverage:
- I hyphenated my last name after getting married to honor my identity. It only created more problems. (businessinsider.com)
At 19, Melissa Guida-Richards discovered she was adopted from Colombia and her birth name had been changed. This revelation deeply affected her sense of identity, influencing her decision to hyphenate her last name upon marriage to avoid further loss. However, the hyphenation created unexpected complications.
Born Elisa Contreras Nieves, Guida-Richards’s name was changed upon adoption, replacing her Latino surname with her adoptive father’s Italian one. While she embraced her new name, she faced questions about her ethnicity and a sense of disconnect between her name and appearance. Growing up in an immigrant family, she understood the significance of names and cultural heritage, further complicating her feelings about her own identity.
When she married, Guida-Richards hyphenated her last name to honor both her family history and her new union. Unfortunately, the hyphen led to frustrating practical difficulties.
Finding her records at pharmacies and other institutions became a recurring challenge due to inconsistencies across systems that didn’t accommodate hyphenated names. These experiences ultimately led her to reconsider her decision.
Guida-Richards acknowledges that while hyphenating a last name is legally permissible, it’s not always practically feasible. She now plans to legally change her name once more, reflecting her evolving sense of self and the realization that sometimes names, like people, need to change and adapt.