The Huffington post article discusses contemporary adoption by men of their wife’s surname.  In previous eras this was common when a man married a woman from a more illustrious family than their own.  It also occurred in places where inheritance by daughters was not legal or was not approved of – in those areas a son-in-law was “adopted” into the family.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/celebrity-name-changes_n_2631803.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share

Surname changes for these and other reasons make tracking our ancestors very difficult.  I wonder if in the future, tracing relatives who changed their surnames will be any easier.