‘Sister Wives’ Star Janelle Brown Won’t Drop Her Last Name, Doesn’t Intend to Remarry, Despite Kody Brown Divorce

Janelle Brown might have dumped Kody Brown, but she hasn’t ditched his last name. The Sister Wives star says that even though her marriage is over, she still considers herself a Brown and that won’t be changing her name anytime soon. Nor is she on the lookout for another husband, she says.

Christine Brown says it’s a ‘pain the butt to change your name’

Janelle and her fellow ex-sister wife Christine Brown were guests on the Rogue Energy podcast on Jan. 17. At one point, the conversation turned to the recent changes in their lives, including Christine’s 2023 marriage to David Woolley. Janelle admitted that she was having trouble adjusting to Christine’s new last name. That prompted Christine to open up on the difficulties of adopting a new last name. 

“It is a pain in the butt to change your name when you’re older, by the way. Oh my gosh,” she said. “It’s a pain in the butt … when you’re older it takes so long. There’s still some things I’m Christine Brown in. I’ve got to get it changed over.”

Janelle Brown doesn’t want another husband 

Janelle chimed in to say that she intended to keep her current name, despite the end of her spiritual marriage to Kody. 

“I’m going to stay Brown because my kids are Brown,” she said. “I don’t intend to remarry so I think I’ll probably always stay Brown.”

“You’re not going to remarry?” Chrisine asked. 

“I’ve been thinking about [it] a lot,” Janelle explained. “I’m not really interested in dating at all … I’m really good right now. It’s kind of nice, because I’m building this new life and I’m thinking about a new house, and I get to make all the decisions.”

Janelle recently moved from Arizona to North Carolina, where she has a new flower farm business. She said her past marriage is firmly in her rearview mirror. 

“I don’t really interact with Kody,” she said, aside from some limited conversations about the Coyote Pass property. 

Kody is also out of Christine’s life for good. 

“I haven’t talked to him for a long time,” she said. 

Meri Brown says changing her name would be ‘weird’

Janelle isn’t the only one of Kody’s ex-wives who plans to remain a Brown. Meri Brown, who married Kody when she was 19, has also said she won’t change her name. 

“We’ve talked about it a lot. It’s like, okay, I am connected to Kody Brown by having his last name, but at the same time, that’s all anybody knows me as. That’s all I know myself as for the past 34 years,” Meri told People in a recent interview “I definitely wouldn’t ever change it back to my maiden name.”

“That would be weird for me. I only had [my maiden name] for 19 years,” she added. “This one I’ve had for 34, so it would be weird on that level.”

For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.