Wives adopting husbands’ names after marriage no longer relevant – High Court Judge

A High Court Judge, Justice Alexander Osei Tutu is advocating for a reconsideration of the custom where married women adopt their husbands' surnames after marriage.

According to him, years ago, women could not own property by themselves, hence most women chose to change their names after marriage as it gave them some form of identity.

However, he noted that since most of those statutes have changed, it is time for women to have their own identities.

Speaking on JoyNews' The Law on Sunday, July 7, Justice Osei Tutu argued that the tradition of women changing their names after marriage has lost its legal relevance.

He explained that "this practice originated as an English custom intended to demean women, but its significance has diminished over time."

"So we need to reconsider our adoption of the Mrs and the use of the husband's name," he stated."

According to him, the era where women were infringed by law is no more. He thus questioned why women continue to adopt the surnames of husbands when they tie the knot.

"As old as the 11th century, married women were disabled from performing lawful acts. So if you marry as a woman, your husband's identity covers you.

"This was an English custom which continued for many centuries until the 16th century when Christian ideology was used to support it. That the Bible says that women should submit to their husbands.

"Towards the 19th century legislation was passed to empower women to do some of the things they could not do," he stressed.

He added "If you want to use the Bible to justify it, you may get it wrong because nowhere in the Bible did we have a woman changing the name because she got married. Eve was never called Adam Eve. Jesus' mother was not called Mary Joseph."

Justice Osei Tutu indicated that Islamic religion does not permit for a person to change their name to adopt their husband's.