Seventy odd years ago, things were simpler—when a man and a woman got married, the wife took her husband’s surname. As this idea gained ground, so did the clerical habit of designating a married woman by her husband’s surname. Married women still could not hold property, vote, or go to law. By the early 17th Century, the custom of the woman adopting her husband’s surname was sufficiently entrenched in England. Adopting of the husband’s surname spread during the 19th Century to Scotland, Ireland and Wales as well as to British colonies and former colonies, including Kenya.

Source: The Star March 05, 2019 04:18 UTC