Margot Robbie has reportedly changed her surname almost 10 years after marrying her husband, Tom Ackerley, and the decision has made international news.
In new documents published for the couple’s production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, the actor was listed as ‘Margot Ackerley’ and her maiden name was, well, nowhere in sight.
While it’s more than likely she’ll stick to ‘Margot Robbie’ for most of her professional work, predictably, the internet went crazy.
Many fans have expressed shock over the decision, with some even going as far as to suggest that “Barbie would never” make the same move, calling it an un-feminist one.
I think (for what it’s worth), she can do whatever the hell she likes. But I know, for certain, I won’t ever make the same decision.
Why I promised myself I’ll never change my surname
As a caveat, I’m not against people changing their names. Whether it’s for love or identity, people can express themselves however they choose, and I advocate for that decision.
But for me, the idea of personally changing my surname to reflect my partner’s is kind of bonkers.
What do you mean I need to change half of my identity to reflect another person? Even more so if I were to do it to copy a man.
Our names are the labels we use to identify ourselves: how we introduce ourselves, how we’re pulled into conversations, how we’re differentiated. And I don’t want all of that to be swallowed up and changed to reflect another.
My surname represents my identity, yes, but it also represents my family and my heritage. Any unconscious expectation from a partner to change it feels disrespectful. It’s something I simply have a ‘yeah, nah’ mentality for.
And, don’t get me started if I were to go through a breakup with said man. So now, you’re saying I’d then have to carry his surname around with me? Fill out forms, introduce myself, be reminded of the person whenever I’m identifying myself?
I’ve been through enough heavy breakups to know I don’t want to bestow that extra heartache on myself.
The one potential chink in my armour
When I’ve expressed this opinion to people in my life, there’s one argument that emerges time and time again: what about if you have kids?
As a daughter of divorce, this does admittedly stop me in my tracks. I would love to be known as, for the sake of the example, “The Coghills”.
“Are The Coghills joining?”
“Oh, that house there is The Coghills’ place.”
I like that! With surnames representing family and heritage (as well as belonging, of course), I like the idea of having the same name as my imaginary children.
But to forsake my own identity to achieve that label? It feels like too high a price to pay. I suppose I’ll need to cross that bridge when (or if) it comes.
Margot can be an Ackerley if she wants, but I’ll be a Coghill ’til the day I die.
Share this post