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Even after separating from Kody Brown, Sister Wives star Meri Brown is keeping her last name until she gets married again. She has no intention of reverting to her maiden name, Barber.
In an exclusive interview with People, published on December 30, 2024, Meri shared that she had many discussions about the matter and concluded that it would be ok for her to keep the "Brown" surname.
She admitted that the name connects her to her ex-husband but noted that she has been Meri "Brown" for over 34 years, and people know her by that name. Moreover, she has used the "Brown" surname longer than her maiden name, so it would be "weird" to revert.
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"I definitely wouldn't ever change it back to my maiden name. That would be weird for me. I only had that for 19 years. This one I've had for 34, so it would be weird on that level," she said.
The Sister Wives star further noted that she would keep the surname until she gets married again and decided to change it. In the meantime, she revealed that she and her friend have been having a lot of fun discussions regarding the possible surname that would go well with her first name.
Sister Wives star Meri Brown comments on dating and finding her future partner
Sister Wives star Kody Brown first met Meri Barber in 1989 and legally married her on April 21, 1990. Meri took on Kody's surname after the marriage and continued to use it even after legally divorcing him in 2014 so that he could legally marry Robyn Brown and adopt her kids.
Even after their legal divorce, Meri remained spiritually married to Kody, and they continued their relationship. However, in January 2023, they jointly announced their separation, officially ending their three-decade-long spiritual marriage.
Meri has since reentered the dating world and is exploring dating apps.
In an interview with People, Meri shared her experience with dating apps, stating that she uses them occasionally when she feels like it and deactivates her profile when she doesn’t.
"It's a weird thing, because you never know, and there's a lot of this [and] that I have to weed out. It's like, do they know who I am? At what point do I tell them who I am? Not only that I am from a plural family but also on a TV show, and then, who is looking for their five minutes of fame? So, there's a lot that you have to weed through. It's an interesting process," she continued.
The Sister Wives star noted that she is looking for a partner who matches her energy and cheers her on with all the things that she is doing.
Meri emphasized her desire to remain independent while having a "safe space to land"—someone who encourages her, supports everything she does, and isn’t intimidated by her ambitions.
"I want somebody who's very successful, and very driven, and has his own goals and dreams that he's working on. Very ambitious. I want somebody who's ambitious," she added.
When asked whether she would present her newfound relationship on Sister Wives, Meri said that she would have to wait to get to a certain point in the relationship before making that decision.
"I think it would have to get to a [certain] point of relationship before I did that, because that's a big thing to be seen publicly like that," she said.
All episodes of Sister Wives season 19 are available on TLC.
