Men taking their wife's name, double-barrelled surnames and even MESHED versions are all the rage as traditional marriages go out of fashion 

• Increasing number of husbands taking their wives names when they marry
• Often men with 'embarrassing' names don't want to pass it on to children
• 'Meshing' - creating a new surname by combing both names - also popular

By Hannah Parry For Mailonline

Published: 04:34 EST, 13 June 2015 | Updated: 04:59 EST, 13 June 2015

Men are choosing to take take their wives names or even 'mesh' their surnames as centuries of tradition go out of fashion.

The numbers of women who refuse to give up their maiden name when they marry has soared over recent years. 

Now it appears to be men who are willing to compromise over their surnames after Guardians of the Galaxy star Zoe Saldana revealed that her husband Marco Perego had chosen to take her name after they married.  

Guardians of the Galaxy star Zoe Saldana revealed that her husband Marco Perego had chosen to take her name after they married

Zoe Saldana with husband Marco attend an event in LA

Experts believe that the move away from traditional marriages could be down to a rise in feminism. 

Louise Bowers of the UK Deed Poll Service told The Times: I suppose it's a sign of the times. We no longer expect women to stay at home and look after the house when they get married, I don't think we expect them automatically to take their husband's name either.

Other factors could be men who consider their surname to be embarrassing, such as Dick or Bogey, who don't want to pass them onto their children, she added.

At the same time, numbers of men going double-barrelled or meshing their surname - where the family names of both wive and husband are combined to create a new one - has also increased.

Meshing originally became popular in the US and has now caught on with couples over here.

Statistics show that hundreds of Brits are now fusing their surnames, such as Mr Pugh and Miss Griffin who famously became Mr and Mrs Puffin.

TV presenter Dawn Porter also chose to mesh her surname with her husband, actor Chris O’Dowd when they married in 2012, by taking the 'O' to become Dawn O'Porter. 

Dawn Porter chose to take the 'O' from her husband Chris O'Dowd's surname when the pair married while Jay Z (real name Shawn Carter) combined his name with wife Beyonce's to become Shawn Knowles-Carter

Chris O'Dowd and wife Dawn chat babysitters on BAFTA red carpet

Claudia Duncan, an officer with the Deed Poll, said: 'Meshing has changed from once being a rare novelty to now being noted as being one of the main reasons couples may use a Deed Poll to change their names. 

'It allows couples the freedom of reinvention - meshing their names as a symbolic reflection of their union with a completely new start without any history being tied to their surname.'

She added: 'Many couples feel meshing is more romantic than double-barreling their surname, while we did have one very honest client who said they could not decide whose name should come first, so blending their names was the obvious solution.'

Other examples of names created by deed poll include Miss Harley and Mr Gatts who became the Hatts, Miss Price and Mr Nightingale who are now the Prightingales and Miss Clifton and Mr Mole now known as the Moltons. 

Double-barrelling still remains a popular choice and is currently more in demand than meshing with Kick-Ass star Aaron Taylor-Johnson incorporating their wives’ surnames with their own.

Famously, rapper Jay Z (real name Shawn Carter) combined his name with wife Beyonce's to become Shawn Knowles-Carter.

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