I’m an American citizen married to a Japanese citizen. We both kept our last names (Smith and Sato) when we got married. We both live in Japan, and are expecting our first child later this year.
We are deciding what to do for the kid’s last name. Options are:
1. Sato-Smith (our hyphenated last names)
2. Sato (wife’s last name)
I (Smith) am listed on my wife (Sato’s) family register. We would prefer to use a hyphenated last name (Sato-Smith), but to do that, my wife would need to first change her last name to Sato-Smith (so it creates a new register). We would then use that hyphenated last name on our kid’s Japanese birth certificate, and for the Consular Report of Birth Application for the US (DS-2029). Optionally, I’d change my last name too, to match.
Changing her/our last names seems like a hassle. At the same time, using Sato in Japan and Sato-Smith in the US also seems tricky, and may require an amended birth certificate to register with the US, which would require my wife to change her name anyway.
Curious to hear from other couples who went through something similar. Which last name did you pick for your kid? Was it pretty easy to do? Did it cause problems down the line?
by chernn