I never understood why; and I don't know if I missed something throughout the show that explained it...

During the show with all of the disliking Dorothy has towards Stan, why did she keep his last name after the divorce and not go back to being "Dorothy Petrillo"?

I don't know, but maybe she didn't think it was worth it to spend the money and time having her name legally changed back. Women have a lot to change when they take their husbands' name: you need to change your name for the driver's license, charge accounts, social security number, etc. Maybe it was too much of a hassle for her to change everything back. That's my guess, anyway. :lol:

Plus, it was the last name of her children, so for sentimental reasons, she may have kept Stan's last name. :)

I don't know, but maybe she didn't think it was worth it to spend the money and time having her name legally changed back. Women have a lot to change when they take their husbands' name: you need to change your name for the driver's license, charge accounts, social security number, etc. Maybe it was too much of a hassle for her to change everything back. That's my guess, anyway. :lol:
Very true. This is a very common occurrence. Nice observation. :)

i think that it was just because "Zbornak" is a MUCH sexier sounding name than "Petrillo"

Possibly for reasons that professionally she was already known as Zbornak, she was Zbornak for 30+ years and the people in life probably knew her as Zbornak, not to mention like an earlier poster stated the changing of all her legal documents can be overwhelming and very time consuming. Many women keep their maiden names if they are already in a career while those who seek careers after marriage (like Dorothy, since she was married young and I believe right out of high school or close to that time) then use their married name.

Stan was Dorothy's high school sweetheart, and I believe she got pregnant before they graduated, hence their hasty marriage. I THINK I have that right, but anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Stan was Dorothy's high school sweetheart, and I believe she got pregnant before they graduated, hence their hasty marriage. I THINK I have that right, but anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

From my memory was that Dorothy was in college at the time she became pregnant by Stan, because I remember in a flashback episode Sophia reminds Dorothy that she was studying to become a teacher, a young Dorothy tells her mother that she was still going to be a teacher that she wasn't going to let what happened change that. That's what I remember anyway.

Thanks!! I think I remember that now. :cool:

My mom did the same thing after her divorce from my brother's dad. She kept his name even after she met my dad, they were never legally married and so I was born with my mother's first husband's last name. It was changed to my dad's when I started school.

On Frasier, Niles' ex wife Maris kept Niles' last name Crane when they divorced. They probably did that since we didn't know Maris' maiden name. It was weird seeing Niles married to Daphne and hearing her being called Maris Crane.

But anyway, it's not uncommon for a woman to keep her ex husband's name after a divorce. I have seen it quite a bit actually.

It's very common to keep the maried name after divorce.

i always liked Dorothy and stan they had lot of funny remembel scenes on there,always liked her expressions when he showed up at the door or at the house lol uninvitied

My sister still has her ex-husband's last name. It's pretty common.

I could be wrong here, but I think it is perhaps more common for younger people who have not been married for a "lifetime" to change their name after a divorce. When people are younger they may not have established a 30-year identity with their name, so it may be easier to change their name and still be known. When someone has had a name for 30 years it could be like starting over (which isn't a bad thing, but could be much harder).

Dorothy was a Zbornak for 38 years, and before that she was a Petrillo until only the age of 18 or so. She was Zbornak for much longer, so that's probably how she's always thought of herself.

I never understood why; and I don't know if I missed something throughout the show that explained it...

During the show with all of the disliking Dorothy has towards Stan, why did she keep his last name after the divorce and not go back to being "Dorothy Petrillo"?
I think it's because a lot of divorced women did it at that time.. so it wasn't not too out of the normal.

She probably believed and hoped she would marry again. So why go to all that trouble changing your name back to your maiden name, and then do it again when she married a second time. She did eventually become Dorothy Hollingsworth, after all!

I have a great-aunt who's been divorced for over 30 years, and she still keeps her name! Plus I think Dorothy never really got over Stan (look at how many times she considers going back to him!). And she prob. liked having a little piece of him with her!

Half of my divorced friends kept their exes' last names. The reasons vary from "I want the same name as my kids" to "I've used this name professionally for X number of years" to " I hated spelling Czychzinski!".

Personally, I wouldn't want to keep the name of someone I'd let go.