The goal of a married couple should be to feel as if they are one unit. His joy is her joy, her pain is his pain. One. Each still maintains their unique personality and character but in the big picture there is a feeling of one-ness.
The last few decades there have been many women who chose to keep their last name so that the couple has different last names. A family but with different last names. There is no halachic issue but I wonder how that impacts the feeling of togetherness. As far as I am concerned it would be better for the man to take the woman's last name than each keeping their different last name. One of the primary goals of life should be to do everything to foster a feeling of togetherness between couples. Everything that might create a barrier should be removed. Couples have MORE THAN ENOUGH issues that come between them. We don't need any more.
