When Two Last Names Become One: The Story Behind Bryce and Jennifer Wargin's Married Name

When Bryce Wargin, who competed in the 2026 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions quarterfinals, introduced himself to millions of viewers, many people became curious about his unique last name.

As it turns out, there is a meaningful story behind it.

When Bryce and his wife, Jennifer, got married, they didn't follow the traditional path of one spouse taking the other's surname. Instead, they blended their family names—Durgin and Ward—to create an entirely new surname: Wargin.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Bryce and Jennifer over Zoom about how they arrived at that decision. What I discovered wasn't simply a creative naming choice, but a thoughtful conversation about identity, marriage, faith, and tradition.

Bryce describes himself as a traditional person, but not someone who follows traditions simply because they've always existed.

"My view is that traditions are suggestions and you shouldn't change the tradition if you don't know why; if you haven't thought through the consequences of tearing it down," Bryce explained. "But if you've done that, and you've come to the conclusion that there's no good reason to keep it, then you should go forward with changing it."

Bryce and Jennifer spent a great deal of time reflecting on what they wanted their married name to represent.

"When Jennifer first brought it up, it was a new thought to me," said Bryce, a product surveillance coordinator from Kansas City, Missouri, who earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and political science from the University of Notre Dame and a master's degree in statistics from Texas A&M University.

"I would usually just go with the flow. This is how society is doing things, so that's probably how it's going to be. But having gotten to know Jennifer, and just understanding her concerns, I thought about it a lot."

Jennifer, who holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and a master's degree in Communication with a specialization in political rhetoric from Texas A&M University and now teaches at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, had been wrestling with these questions long before they became engaged.

"I had long been concerned about the social norm of not just taking the man's name, but more specifically, the norm of being called by Mrs. both husband's names," she said.

"I found that problematic socially, but also spiritually, in that the wife's identity seemed completely absorbed into the husband's identity, and that seemed wrong to me."

Later, while they were dating, Jennifer stumbled across an intriguing historical example.

"I had discovered—and I've unfortunately forgotten who this person was and haven't been able to find them again—but I discovered a person from the 19th century who voluntarily took his wife's name as part of his surname. It wasn't a combined thing like we did, but it was two names, her name and then his name. I found that very intriguing. I presented that scenario to Bryce, and he was interested. That's kind of where it went."

That conversation sparked Bryce's own research and reflection.

"As I started thinking about last names, one of the things that jumped out to me is that I had a vague awareness that last names had really only come about around the year 1000 in England," Bryce explained.

He realized that fixed family surnames weren't nearly as ancient—or as universal—as many people assume.

"When my ancestors came over in the early 20th century, they had a static last name rather than just the patronymic. This idea of a fixed last name was kind of a new thing."

His thoughts eventually led him to both literature and Scripture.

"If you look in older texts—for me especially the Bible—nobody is given a last name. I guess the Romans kind of had family names, but certainly in the Bible it was son of this person..."

Then another realization struck him while reading Charles Dickens' Great Expectations.

"The main character, Mr. Joe, and then Mrs. Joe—it just stood out to me so much. Her whole identity was his name."

He continued:

"I'd seen this on invitations—Mr. and Mrs. husband's name—but I was like, oh, I don't think they're just ignoring her identity. But in this book, referring to her alone, without him even being present, as Mrs. Joe... it occurred to me that is exactly what they were doing. She did not have an identity other than the man's."

That realization became deeply personal.

"I wanted to make sure that wasn't what we were doing."

As Bryce continued reflecting, his thoughts returned to Genesis.

"I was meditating on the passage where it says the man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."

Although Jennifer had suggested they could each simply keep their own last names, Bryce felt that didn't fully capture what marriage symbolized for him.

"I think we need to have a single name."

The couple considered other possibilities. They knew friends who had simply combined both full surnames into one long name, but Bryce didn't see that as a practical solution.

"That's a really long name, and it's also something that is not a sustainable practice. You have two names, then the next generation has hybrid names, then you hybridize them again, and you've got four names. It just becomes unwieldy. I think it's the same thing with hyphenating."

Jennifer added another thoughtful observation.

"Generally, I think if they decide to hyphenate, in the next generation they just drop one of the hyphenated names, and typically it's the mother's. So you're still running into the same problems—just pushing them off for a generation."

For Bryce, blending their names ultimately felt like the best expression of what marriage meant.

"This idea of coming together and becoming one—and the melding of the names—just seemed like the best option."

When guests opened their wedding invitations, they didn't see either family name standing alone.

Instead, they were introduced to something entirely new.

Wargin.

Their story serves as a reminder that there isn't just one way to honor marriage, family, or tradition. Sometimes the most meaningful traditions are the ones couples create together—after thoughtful conversation, careful reflection, and a shared understanding of the life they're building.

Bryce and Jennifer's decision wasn't about rejecting tradition. It was about intentionally choosing the one that best reflected their values, their faith, and the equal partnership they wanted their marriage to represent.