Once upon a time it was considered custom for women to take their husband’s name after marrying.

Visiting my family in the Midwest over Thanksgiving, I returned to a topic that’s become very familiar ever since I became engaged a little more than a year ago: Whether I plan to change my last name after I get married.

New research published in the journal Sex Roles examined how women who choose to keep their own surname after marriage are perceived in the United States.

In news that will probably surprise absolutely no one, new research has shown that women who don’t change their names when they get married are perceived by other people to be much less committed to their marriages than those who do are.