Women are still taking their husbands surname in the vast majority of cases when they marry, despite the legal option of either keeping their name or the husband opting to take his wife’s name.
The Swiss tradition of creating a double-barrelled surname was ended in 2013.
Recent studies show in 90% of marriages, the wife takes the husband’s name. Gay marriage remains illegal in Switzerland, but that law will change in the summer following a referendum in September.
Some researchers say those choosing to get married may be slightly more conservative and so are willing to change their name in the more traditional way.
But possibly inertia is a strong reason. One woman told the Tribune de Genève that when she got married, the bank issued new cards with her husband’s surname automatically. She says she hadn’t made a decision.
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