American actress Zoe Saldana has responded to criticism following her husband's decision to adopt her surname after marriage. It's usually women who take their partner's name - but are things changing http://m.bbc.com/news/magazine-33085652
"I really liked the sound of my wife's name - Rowan Martin - and didn't want to spoil that with her changing it." Changing her last name to Coghill would kinda screw up the flow.
It used to be that one's legacy is based on passing one's surname down through the generations. Adopting the wife's surname shows she's the dominant person in the relationship.
I had some dude at my work who had a hyphenated last name. The first half of his last name was his original last name and the second half of his last name (after the hyphen) was his wife's last name. Kind of lame if you ask me. fan27