The government is the final hindrance

We've been married for almost a year already, and I still haven't changed my name to match Greg's last name. That's mainly because it feels like I would be losing a big part of my identity, which I guess every new wife has felt before me.
This spawned plenty of more or less casual chats on the matter this past year.

There are plenty of arguments supporting a married couple sharing a last name. It marks the beginning of a new family, it gives a sense of unity and belonging to the couple and their children. A mother that refuses to change her name has to go through extra hoops every time she has to pick up or travel with one of her children. A kid whose last name doesn't match the mom's or dad's may feel like "something is wrong" due to the societal pressure of common family names.

That being stated, why does the woman have to change her last name, and not the man? We live in an age of gender equality, yet still insist on this heavily biased antiquated practice that implies feminine subservience. It turns out there actually are men that change their last name instead, one who is working at the same company as the two of us. He adopted his wife's last name because his was way too common in his country and he wanted more individuality. This brings me to the next argument:

Why not choose the name that is more interesting / unique / special / uncommon / resonant / phonetically-pleasing for both people in the couple? Diversity is what fosters evolution, we should be maintaining names with more legacy and individuality rather than blindly applying the blind rule. Would you rather live in a society of 90% Johns and Janes Doe, or instead sustain ancient lineages that have a history associated with them, be it the name of a niche religion that was taken as last name by the small group of families practicing it, or the name of the small village from which a priest's four sons scattered in the world because they could not agree on who deserved to remain in the father's place? Do you want a name that's so generic that on any www search engine you show up only on the 12th page of results, or one that only 3 other families share in the whole world?

End of rant...

I've been paying the passive card of telling Greg I don't mind doing it, but I don't want to go through the trouble. So he finally mustered up the energy to look into it, and the outcome is hilarous. Here's is trail of breadcrumbs:

• CA Courts info: http://www.courts.ca.gov/1051.htm
  Says they need to contact the SSN office and DMV.
• DMV info: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/dl/dl_info.htm#two504
  Says you need to first have contacted the SSN office.
• SSN info: https://secure.ssa.gov
  Closest office is in Campbell:
  770 W HAMILTON AVE, CAMPBELL, CA 95008
  Phone 1-800-772-1213 (National line)
• Info on what's needed to change the name: http://goo.gl/Ber4RD
  They need the marriage document: "We can only accept an original or certified copy of a marriage or divorce document."
• So looks like I need to call them and find our marriage document.
  Called and got a recorded guy. Navigated the menus and he said we needed to fill out http://www.ssa.gov/online/ss-5.pdf and bring it in.
• Called the Campbell office directly (866) 348-5832 and she said you can't do a name change while the government's in shutdown mode.

So I guess it's still not happening yet :-P who said these events in the government don't directly influence your personal life?