I think the only correct answer will be “there are lots of different reasons”.
My wife took my last name, even though it’s not a good one and I suggested that we pick a new one.
Here are a couple of her reasons:
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She wanted us to have the same surname.
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She was very close friends with my cousins growing up, so the name didn’t seem weird to her.
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Tradition - she’d always assumed she would change her name to her husband’s name, so that seemed the most normal thing to do.
From an outsider’s perspective, I think a lot of people think you guys sailed past the point of no return back in the 80s.