ok.. how do I change a name?

[IronPheonix]

My sims got married.

That's not the problem... but instead of her taking on his last name, it got all reversed! So now the guy has her last name. How do I correct this, I don't have simPE, is there any other way to fix this? Thank you for your time... It's appreaciated.                                                           

[jsalemi]

I haven't used it, but the latest lot debugger has an option to change last names if you shift-click on it in debug mode.  See the thread in the Flying Fish Systems forum here for more details.

[Soylent Sim]

Normally speaking, the proposee takes on the proposer's last name.  Nice and egalitarian, but a little out of place for those of us with real-world expectations.

The lot debugger has a feature to modify a sim's last name, although I suggest you have a pencil and paper handy while you do so.  (You have to change a sim's first name to the desired last name, use the option to have their last name be the same as their first name, and then change their first name back.)  For future reference, marriagetraditional(?) makes sure that she picks up his last name, just like we real-worlders expect.

[ZiggyDoodle]

There is a bright side to that oddity, at least for people like me who stupidly had their early families have six or eight kids.  I now have an overpopulation of male Avios (those who survived the Avio curse).  Having the female propose the marriage has allowed a bit more diversification in lot names.

[Magicmoon]

If you have marriagetraditional installed, the female will always take the male's last name.

But using that method with the female proposing, or changing their last names now, both results in one problem; the family name does not change.

Ann Jones proposes to John Smith. He accepts, marries and moves in with her. With married traditional both last names will be Smith. But when you go to the neighborhood screen, the family name will still be Jones. Moving them to different lots does not help and it takes changes in SimPe to fix the situation if you don't like it. Renaming them now has the same effect.

[Marhis]

another solution may be <alert: self-advertising here> the last name chooser at MTS2.

[notveryawesome]

I use Marhis's mod, and it's been great for me, as I often like for my female sims to keep their maiden names. The family name depends on whose house a sim is moved into. For example, I had Cyd Roseland move into Tara Kat's house, because it was bigger than his tiny condo. Thus, even though Cyd proposed the marriage, and I did have Tara take his name, the family-name stayed as Kat. Fixing this in SimPE is very easy.

Edited for clarity.

[Gwill]

The lot debugger only copies first name to last.  You can use it, but it's fiddly since you first have to change their first name and then copy it, then change first name back.
Just use SimPE.  It's one of the easiest things to change in SimPE.  And install marriagetraditional or Marhis' mod to avoid problems in the future.

Personally, I have no clue why people ever change their name.  My sims always get to keep theirs.

[Onion Girl]

If I want the wife to change her name - I make the husband initiate the actual wedding ceremony (or 'Propose Marriage') and vice versa for make sims. As far as I know, it doesn't matter who proposes the engagment - just the marriage itself.

[notveryawesome]

Personally, I have no clue why people ever change their name.  My sims always get to keep theirs.

I only change the names of family sims, since they seem like they'd be more traditional than the other aspirations. Knowledge sims, whom I imagine to be a bit more progressive, generally keep their own names. Changing name does make sense if you want all of the offspring to have the father's surname. I personally don't mind changing the sprogs' names in SimPE, or with Christianlov's last name changer, but some people might be put off by having to manually change the name.

[vcline]

This other thread http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,9199.0.html says that changing names in SimPE is dangerous, but I do it often - first name, last name, family name (the one that shows with the lot).  Have I been messing up my 'hoods?