maiden name

a given name piece that in some cultures a female acquires upon marriage; the m. n. is the former surname piece of a female; hence women may acquire multiple m. n. by remarriage, each former surname becoming a “maiden” name at the time of the next marriage, and ordered chronologically, according to the time when it was obtained; females may use their former surname for an nth (last) given name, e.g., “Dorothy Scott Gotherson Hogben.”; nowadays in America some women retain their m. n. as the first part of a compound surname, e.g., “Jackie Joyner-Kersee;” cf., married name