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Ella John, a 26-year-old graduate and entrepreneur, is at a crossroads between marrying the love of her life and breaking her resolve not to change her name after marriage by quitting the two-years-old relationship.
Like Ella, many women today are bent on retaining their surnames after marriage or just adding the surnames of their husbands to their existing surnames to create compound surnames, like “Kingsley-Okonkwo,” “Akwu-Okoye,” and “Ugbede-Achile.”
While this is a matter of preference for different couples, a conversation on Facebook recently sparked a new controversy over the legality of name change and its significance to marriage.
A Facebook post by Afenkhena Debbie revealed an anonymous message from a newlywed woman about how name-changing affected her marriage.
According to this message, a newlywed woman complained that her refusal to change her surname to that of her husband was threatening her marriage.
“We recently got married, and now hubby chased me out of the house because I refused to change my surname to his. He said if I wanted to retain my father’s name, I should go back to my father’s house and answer it. Only one surname is acceptable in his house: his surname. Please advise me,” the message reads.
Reacting to this, Debbie noted that the woman is foolish for even letting such an issue arise, stating that as long as a woman is legally married, the use of her father’s name ends.
“U be mu*mu woman, as long as u are legally married, ur father’s name don close.
So you wanna broke your marriage cause of father name Otilor,” her caption reads.
As of Monday, March 17, 2025, the post had generated 1,700 reactions and 16 shares, with several users adding comments to share their views and ask questions.
A comment by Ariye Faustino Tonye highlighted the issue as not being legal and the woman’s right to agree to the name change.
“The kind of comments I read here show a lot of people don’t even know that there is no law in Nigeria that compels a lady to change her surname to her husband’s name during marriage. It is within the woman’s right to agree to change. Anyway, these are the things they should have discussed during courtship to avoid issues like this.”
Is surname change after marriage compulsory in Nigeria?
It depends on the culture or religion of the people involved. For Muslims, DUBAWA learned that their women do not change their names after marriage.
According to Halima Abubakar, a wife and mother of two, “It is not permissible in Islam to change your name after marriage,” so she didn’t change her name.
Another wife and mother of two, Azeezat Adedigba, believes it is a matter of culture and religion.
In her words, “Africa is patriarchal, and the institutions are not helping. I was once delayed on a flight from Akwa Ibom to Lagos because I don’t have the same name as my daughter, and I didn’t have my marriage certificate on board.”
For Vivian Chime, a wife and a mother of one, it is a matter of “different strokes for different folks.” She noted that people should know before marriage what their partner would and would prefer and decide if they are willing to deal with it.
“I didn’t need to change my name, and even if I decide to do so tomorrow, it will be of my own volition and not because someone forced me to. We had that conversation before marriage,” she said.
Is it a legal issue?
We spoke to a lawyer, Christiana Longe, who explained that it is not a legal issue as no law in Nigeria mandates a woman to change her name because of marriage.
She noted that it is a societal or cultural practice, not a legal obligation.
“No law in Nigeria mandates a woman to change her name due to marriage. It is more of a societal and cultural practice than a legal obligation. A woman can decide to keep her maiden name after marriage if she pleases,” she said.
However, she noted that if a woman changes her name, she needs to follow the legal process. This process, she says, “applies to everyone who decides to change their name, not just married women.”
She also pointed out that some institutional policies, like the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), demand that evidence of marriage, such as proof of a name change after marriage, be posted to a specific location.
She added that it is also required in law school for married women before they can be posted to their desired campus.
She said, “Change of name is not a legal requirement, but it is one of the reliable pieces of evidence to prove marriage, perhaps because of the legal process involved.”
Another legal practitioner, Elizabeth Achimugu, agreed with Christiana that it is not a law. She noted that Islamically, women don’t do that. So, a name change is simply a “tradition,” not a “compulsory” action.
“There is no law that compels women to change their names. Islamically, women don’t change their name to their husband’s name. Change of name, even under marriage under the act or any other kind of marriage, is just a matter of customs and traditions.
She explained that what she means by customs and traditions is not African culture but something people have done over time. She added that for many people, it symbolises unity and avoids so many explanations.
“For example, a woman who is under her husband’s Health Maintenance Organization (HMO, or a woman travelling abroad with the children, it is to avoid questions on why your names are different. So it is not a law, and it is not compulsory.”
She also revealed that when a woman changes her name after marriage and divorce happens, she is free to use the husband’s name even after a divorce, but the former husband can sue if the woman uses his name for fraud.
“When a woman changes her name after marriage, when there is a divorce or separation, she must not change back to her maiden name; she can still retain that name that she has been using. But the man can bring a suit against her if she uses the name for fraud. For example, a woman’s name is Dangote, and she is no longer married to Dangote, but she poses herself as a spouse of Dangote to defraud people; he can go to court and ask her to drop that name,” Elizabeth examined.
Another legal practitioner, John Achile, confirmed this is not a legal action but a socially recognisable way for people to know a woman is married and to which family she is married.
“Changing maiden name after marriage by a woman is a social phenomenon and not a legal obligation. It is more pronounced in church circles for social recognition. It is not part and parcel of Nigerian culture.
Conclusion
Name change after marriage is not compulsory; no law in Nigeria makes it mandatory. A woman is free to decide whether to keep her surname or adopt her husband’s surname.
