Mike Buday would like to take his wife's last name, Bijon, and has sued the State of California to make it easier for men to do so. Only six states -- Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York and North Dakota -- have statutes establishing equal name-change processes for men and women when they marry. In California and other states, men cannot choose a different last name while filing a marriage license. This is a growing trend, mainly because people have different views on gender equality than they did in the past. In Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, the County Clerk estimates that 1 in 100 men take their wife's name.

Diana Bijon has no brothers and would like to see her family name continue. Buday, on the other hand, is estranged from his father, and isn't attached to his name.

This is a bigger deal in Japan than it is here. In the mid-80s I was an exchange student in Isahaya, Japan and had a homestay family in Sasebo, the Yakabes. Mr. Yakabe had taken his wife's family name to keep it alive. He had brothers to continue his name.