From to , plenty of stars have proved that their married last names weren’t just something borrowed.
Although Kris did toy around with the idea of changing her surname back to Kardashian (she was married to from 1978 to 1991) while she was still married to , she decided to stick with Jenner even after she and Caitlyn divorced in 2015.
“Everybody already thinks I’m Kris Kardashian,” Kris told a skeptical Caitlyn during a season 6 episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, which aired in 2011. “It’s just about the brand.”
Kris later told Australian radio hosts and during a July 2016 interview that she was “too busy these days to worry what my last name is.”
Keep scrolling to see which stars have spoken out about deciding to keep their married names post-divorce:
La La Anthony
La La was married to former NBA star from 2010 to 2021. She decided to keep his surname because of the pair’s son, Kiyan, whom they welcomed in 2007.
During a panel at Fanatics Fest in August 2024, La La noted that Kiyan has the potential to follow in his dad’s footsteps as a basketball star, and she wants to wear their shared name on her back when it’s on a pro jersey one day.
“That’s why I haven’t changed my last name yet,” she said, according to Page Six. “I’m gonna keep it around for a little while!”
Olivia Plath
Olivia married in 2018, one year before the Plath family’s TLC series, Welcome to Plathville, premiered. Their marriage played out on the show before they split in 2023.
“My last name being Plath, it’s been that way for my entire adult life,” Olivia, who was 20 at the time of the nuptials, exclusively told Us Weekly in July 2024. “I got married as kind of a sheltered kid and changed my name at that time. There’s no reason why I would go back to my maiden name. I’m not that girl anymore.”
Plath added that there’s a “staunch feminist part” of her that is “very against the idea of last names belonging to men.”
She continued, “It’s [an] assimilation of letters that we use to identify people and who cares if it’s my name? It’s not harming or hurting anyone else.”
Kris Jenner
Although Kris expressed interest in changing her name back to Kardashian, she has remained a Jenner. She attributed the decision to her daughters and , whom she shares with Caitlyn.
“[There] happens to be two younger girls who have an amazing dad and I think I’m going to stay right where I am,” she said during a July 2016 appearance on the Australian radio show KIIS 1065 Sydney. “[Changing my name] sounded good for a minute, but I went, ‘You just have to respect the relationship of the entire family.’”
Camille Grammer
Camille has been married to since 2018, but she kept the surname of her first husband, , after their 2011 divorce. She noted during an October 2017 appearance on The Wendy Williams Show that she made the choice because of the children she shares with Kelsey: daughter Mason, born in 2001, and son Jude, born in 2004.
“Our children are Grammers, and it’s easier to keep the Grammer last name because of our children,” she explained. “There’s so much paperwork that goes on with changing names, and I’m going through this custody battle and all this legal stuff. So, maybe after all that’s done, I’ll change my name. But right now it’s just easier to keep it.”
Nicole Mitchell Murphy
Nicole was married to from 1993 to 2006. During a July 2024 appearance on Comedy Hype, Nicole explained why she never had the desire to reinstate her maiden name after their divorce.
“Listen, I was married to that man for years. I earned my name. I deserve my name. I have five children with that name,” she said. “I didn’t see any harm in keeping my last name. It doesn’t matter.”
Nicole and Eddie share daughters Bria, born in 1989, Shayne, born in 1994, Zola, born in 1999, and Bella, born in 2002, and son Myles, born in 1992.
Shaunie Henderson
Shaunie was married to from 2002 to 2011 and kept the basketball star’s last name until she married in 2022.
During the 2022 VH1 special Shaunie and Keion’s Destination ‘I Do,’ she explained that she stayed an O’Neal for the sake of her and Shaq’s four children: sons Shareef, born in 2000, and Shaquir, born in 2003, and daughters Amirah, born in 2001, and Me’arah, born in 2006. Shaunie also has a son, Myles, born in 1997, from a previous relationship, while Shaq shares daughter Taahirah, born in 1996, with ex-girlfriend .
“Getting divorced with very small children, I kept [O’Neal] for the sake of my kids,” Shaunie explained. “Changing my name lets me start all over, and I feel like a whole new person.”
