VIking Maiden Names

When it comes to holding onto my maiden name here in France..."the computer says no"

Be it bank, social security, doctor, lawyer, house papers, tax papers...no computer system seems to be in place to cater to women who marry late in life and just want to hold onto their name.
I was warned about this in hospital after giving birth to my son (who has his father's name).
"Start now," whispered a kindly nurse to me, "don't ever even mention you are married or you'll automatically be referred to by your husband's name."

She was right. But, newly married and quite proud and happy to be so, I cannot imagine lying about my marital status just to keep French bureaucracy at bay and computer chaos to nil.

The Vikings didn't have a problem with this (the name keeping part, not the computer issues certainly). Viking women did like the men, they were known as So-and-So's daughter, as men were So-and-So's son, even after their wedding day. Simple. And when and if they divorced, they went on being called Haraldsdatter, Lavransdatter...So-and-So's daughter. Divorcing one's identity from a parent is far harder than divorcing a partner.

No, I don't plan on divorcing my husband. But in having to defend my desire to keep my name, I feel the French assume I must not love my husband if I don't want his name.
No, I just want to keep my name. It's my father's name. And after using it for over 30 something years on this planet, why shouldn't I want to keep it? The plain and simple fact is, I like it. Plus, I don't want to have the same name as my mother-in-law, as lovely as she is (really).
I want to be my father's daughter.

Now, I haven't lived in the States for quite a few years and was never married when I lived in the States, but somehow I feel France is lagging behind on this one.

If Carla Bruno-Sarkozy-- the President's wife if you're seriously out of touch with events in the western world-- can keep her name, so can I.

I just might have to hyphenate it to make sure La Poste delivers my mail on time.