Does the bride take the groom's last name in a jewish marriage?

The taking of the surname is not a religious issue. however, within Orthodox circles it is very uncommon for a bride to NOT take her husbands last name.





To explain in more detail. Surnames are not a Jewish concept but a secular one- so there is no significance attached to them in the halachah (Jewish law). However, the Talmud Masechta Kiddushin (the tractate dealing with marriage) starts off with "Haisha Naknis" ("A woman is aquired") The significance here is that the woman enters into the husbands home/tribe/family and not the other way around. (Jewishness if from our mothers, but tribal affiliation from our fathers. This is clearly seen in this week's parsha (Pinchas) where Elazar conducts the censusexplicitly by father's house.)





So, because a woman enters into the husband's family, the most common symbol of this in society is her taking on the surname of the husband. It is not halachicly required, but it would be strange for a wife not to do so in the Orthodox community.

Does the bride take the groom's last name in a jewish marriage?
It is common, but like allonyoav said, it's really not a religious issue. There are actually a good amount of women in my (modern Orthodox) community who have kept their names. It's definitely a less popular choice though.





About what allonyoav referenced from the Talmud in Kiddushin about the woman "being acquired", I learned that to be that the man was buying the rights to a relationship with the woman and so it's different from a regular object acquisition.
Reply:Usually yes, although in recent years, some brides have chosen not to.
Reply:I think.


I mean my mom married my dad (my dad is Jewish), and she took his last name.
Reply:Usually
Reply:That's the most common result.
Reply:She doesn't take it, but she uses it