The U.S. women’s national team roster for the SheBelieves Cup might have some new names, but not all are new to the fold.
Two USWNT veterans will now use their married names after their winter nuptials, and will sport their new names in the national team’s first friendlies of the year. For Captain Lindsey Heaps, formerly Horan, and forward Lynn Biyendolo, formerly Williams, the SheBelieves Cup will also be the first time either player wears their new name in a game.
The pair join a long list of USWNT players who have made that switch, and could join another – Sophia Wilson, formerly Smith, also intends to use her married name when she returns to play for both the national team and her club team, the NWSL’s Portland Thorns.
Heaps uses both names
The SheBelieves Cup will be Heaps’ first opportunity to play with her married name on the back of her jersey, though it’s a rather quirky introduction for her new surname. She still sports Horan on her back while playing for Olympique Lyonnais, likely the result of rules barring players from changing their names in the middle of the season.
Biyendolo’s unique story
Biyendolo opted to change her last name to embrace the uniqueness of her husband’s last name, a story that starts with her Congolese father-in-law, Clotaire.
“In the Congo, in African culture, sometimes you are gifted a name, you’re gifted the last name,” Biyendolo said at NWSL Media Day in January. “Clotaire, my father-in-law, his sister’s last name is different than his last name, so moving forward he decided, ‘I’m going to continue on and have my family have my same last name,’ so Marley, my husband, and his brother have, obviously, Biyendolo as their last name.
“I think it’s very cool and special. Besides only one other family in the Congo, any Biyendolo out there will be related to me and my husband and my in-laws, so that’s very cool, and I do think that as cool as the Williams name is, the history of it – obviously, some slave owners at some point had that, so I think it’s a very cool tradition to be able to take such a special name that was gifted to my father-in-law and have it on the back of my jersey but also have it be a part of me and part of my family, and that’s the family I chose to be in.”
USWNT’s history of name changes
Heaps and Biyendolo are joined by one other player on the SheBelieves Cup roster who chose her married name – defender Emily Sams – though they have several other teammates who did the same. Mallory Swanson, formerly Pugh, made the name change following her 2022 wedding to MLB shortstop Dansby Swanson, and Sophia Wilson, formerly Smith, switched things up after marrying NFL wide receiver Michael Wilson in January.
Several notable USWNT veterans also changed their names after their weddings. 2015 Women’s World Cup winner Lauren Holiday, formerly Cheney, made the switch after her 2013 wedding with NBA champion Jrue Holiday. The same is true for two-time World Cup winner Julie Ertz, formerly Johnston, who opted to go by her married name after her 2017 wedding with NFL tight end Zach Ertz. Cindy Parlow Cone, a member of the USWNT’s 1999 World Cup-winning team and the current president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, added a second last name after her 2007 wedding.
No name change, no problem
Naturally, several USWNT players opted not to change their names after tying the knot. Crystal Dunn, who also made this year’s SheBelieves Cup roster, has stuck with her original last name since her 2018 wedding, while the same is true for goalkeeper Casey Murphy.
A number of the USWNT’s most notable players also never made the name change. Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd, for example, kept those names throughout their professional careers and still use them in retirement, and the same is true for the likes of Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy.
