“Mrs.” followed by husbands name reflected the husband higher legal status, e.g. if he was an duke, she was a duchess only by virtue of being married to him. Such titles, along with a woman adopting her husbands surname, reflect usage among the Christians in general, and the British in particular. Traditionally, Jewish women did not adopt a husband’s name but were known as “Pilonis bas Piloni” where “Piloni” was her patronymic (her father’s name). In the 19th century the governments made us adopt their form of names in order to make it easiet to tax and conscript us.
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