When a family blends, there’s a lot to figure out, including how to approach things as simple as a last name.

So, what would you do if everyone else in the house adopted a new, hyphenated family name, but you wanted to keep your original last name?

Would you go along to make things easier?

Or would you hold onto what you’ve always had?

In the following story, one teen finds himself at odds with his dad and stepmom over this exact situation.

Here’s how it played out.

AITA for not using the hyphenated name of the blended family?

So, my dad and his wife blended two families together 5 years ago.

Dad has me (15m), my brother (12), and my sister (10).

His wife has two daughters (14, 13) and two sons (11, 9).

Their dad and our mom are gone, so we all live together all the time.

After my dad got married, they hyphenated their last names to be her last name and his last name.

Her kids and my siblings agreed to the hyphenated name.

I said no and kept my name as it was.

I was asked a few times if I’d like to change it, but my answer was always the same.

When talking about the blended family, my dad and his wife, as well as my siblings and stepsiblings, will say her last name- his last name hyphenated version.

But I always say I’m a “my last name,” and I never use the blended family name.

The stepmom overheard his conversation about last names and was not happy.

This became a big deal because someone asked me if I was a (hyphenated name), and I said no, just a (my last name).

It was someone delivering a package to the house.

But my dad’s wife heard me say it, and she asked me why I did that, and I told her because it’s my last name.

She told me I am a part of the family, though, and when talking to others, I could use the hyphenated name even if I don’t make it legally my name.

I told her I didn’t want to, and when my dad found out about it, he told me I should use the hyphenated name when talking to others, and I’m just being difficult using my last name.

AITA?

Wow! It’s easy to see both sides of this situation, but pushing him probably won’t change his mind.

Let’s see what advice the folks over at Reddit have for him.

This person makes a great point.

As this person points out, the delivery person was just checking if it was the right house.

According to this comment, people should never be forced to change their last name.

Here’s someone who thinks asking young children to change their last names is a little weird.

Ultimately, there’s no reason to force him to change his last name.

However, the delivery driver doesn’t care, so he should’ve just said yes.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.