- Monica Patterson changed her last name when she got married in February.
- The TikTok star said she faced criticism from followers, who thought she was being forced.
- "I'm not being forced, I'm not being dominated… I'm so happy," Monica told Insider.
Like many brides, Monica Patterson changed her last name to her husband's when she got married.
Monica, who was previously known as Monica Gartner, married Sam Patterson in February after being in a long-distance relationship for six years.
Sam is from Cheshire in the UK and moved to the US to be with her earlier this year. The couple tied the knot at an intimate outdoor ceremony in Long Island which was attended by 10 guests and their priest's dog-walking group.
They documented the wedding on their joint TikTok account, which has more than 2 million followers, and their YouTube channel, which has 657,000 followers at the time of writing. After the ceremony, they published a vlog on their YouTube channel titled "Changing Her Last Name," in which Monica shows the process of applying to legally change her last name to Sam's.
The couple old Insider that the video was met with criticism from their followers, who accused Sam of being forceful and dominating.
"We were so excited about this video," Monica told Insider. "A lot of the comments were great, but there were a lot of people saying things like, 'How dare he make you change your name?' They thought he was forcing me."
"People kept saying I was forcing her into it," Sam told Insider. "And she's just like, 'No, I just want the same last name as his grandma.'"
"I love my family, but it's my belief that when you get married you change your name. I'm sure if I had wanted to keep my last name, we would have had that discussion," Monica added. "I'm not being forced, I'm not being dominated... I'm so happy."
Monica's maiden name, Gartner, is present on some of her social media profiles. Her Instagram handle has remained @monicagartner, and her name is written as Monica (Gartner) Patterson on her Instagram profile. Her individual YouTube channel with 144,000 subscribers is titled Monica Gartner, while her individual TikTok, which has over 500,000 followers, is Monica Patterson.
More than 70% of married women in the US opted to take their husband's last name in 2015, according to a series of Google Surveys conducted by the New York Times. And according to a 2016 survey published by the British Sociological Association and cited by iNews, almost 90% of married women in the UK took their husband's last name.
As Brides reports, it has become common in recent years for couples to consider other options, including men taking their wives' last names or creating a new last name.