Jennifer Lopez reveals real reason she changed her iconic name after getting married to Ben Affleck

In a new interview with Vogue, Jennifer Lopez got candid about life in the spotlight, her much-discussed Academy Award snub and her marriage to actor Ben Affleck.

Just a few months after posing nude for her 53rd birthday, J. Lo once again went on the record about feeling confident as a woman - albeit, this time, making her point while defending her choice to actually change her legal last name to her husband's, Ben Affleck.

"People are still going to call me Jennifer Lopez," the triple-threat artist said to Vogue. "But my legal name will be Mrs. Affleck because we're joined together. We’re husband and wife. I’m proud of that. I don't think that’s a problem."

Although clearly certain of her decision, Jennifer has had to contend with a load of consternation regarding the topic following her marriage to the 50-year-old actor. In fact, as reported, J-Lo fans and celebs were divided as Halftime star changed name to ‘Jennifer Affleck’, with plenty of folks saying "it makes zero sense."

The 53-year-old artist had a lot to say about the pushback as well, specifically explaining why asking Ben to become Mr. Lopez was never even an option. 

"It’s not traditional," she said to Vogue. "It doesn’t have any romance to it. It feels like it’s a power move, you know what I mean? I’m very much in control of my own life and destiny and feel empowered as a woman and as a person. I can understand that people have their feelings about it, and that’s okay, too. But if you want to know how I feel about it, I just feel like it’s romantic. It still carries tradition and romance to me, and maybe I’m just that kind of girl."

True J. Lo fans were probably not surprised to hear about the legal name change. In fact, Jennifer Lopez became Jennifer Muñiz when she married Marc Anthony (legal name: Marco Antonio Muñiz) back in 2004.

We personally also love to think of the moniker as an ode to Jennifer and Ben’s two-decades-long relationship. Bennifer, as folks have been calling the pair since they first got together after meeting on the set of their film Gigli in 2001, got engaged for the first time in 2002 but called off their wedding and announced their separation in 2004. 

Later that year, Jennifer got married to Marc and, in 2008 gave birth to their twins Emme and Maximilian, who are now 14 years old each. The couple divorced in 2014. 

Ben, on the other hand, married fellow actor Jennifer Garner in 2005 and the two had three kids: Violet, now 16 years old, Seraphina, now 13 years old, and Samuel, who is now 10 years old. 

The duo divorced in 2018 and, three years later, in September of 2021, J. Lo and Ben packed on the PDA during their first public appearance since getting back together. 

The rest, as they say, is history.