A woman's maiden name is the last name she was born with and used before getting married. In many cultures, when a woman marries, she may take her spouse's last name as her new last name. Her original last name becomes her maiden name.

For example, if Sarah Johnson marries someone named Robert Williams, she might choose to become Sarah Williams. Johnson would then be her maiden name. Some women keep their maiden name after marriage, some hyphenate both names together, and others switch to their spouse's name.

The word maiden is an old-fashioned term meaning an unmarried young woman. While this tradition comes from a time when women nearly always changed their names at marriage, today people have more choices about what name to use.

You might encounter maiden names when filling out forms at the doctor's office or when researching family history. Genealogists (people who study family trees) pay close attention to maiden names because they help trace family connections through previous generations. Understanding someone's maiden name helps you follow their family line back through time, which is essential for building an accurate family tree.