For years, people have debated what to call her. Meghan Markle. Meghan Sussex. The Duchess of Sussex. Rachel Meghan Markle.
Now she has addressed the confusion directly — more than once — and made her preference clear.
“You Know I’m Sussex Now”
The moment that sparked the latest wave of discussion came on her Netflix series With Love, Meghan. Guest Mindy Kaling repeatedly referred to her as “Meghan Markle.”
Meghan gently corrected her.
“It’s so funny, too, that you keep saying Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now,” she said. She went on to explain why the change mattered so much: “You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children.’ I didn’t know how meaningful that would be to me, but it just means so much to go, ‘This is our family name, our little family name.’”
The exchange was light, but it landed. Suddenly everyone was talking about whether “Sussex” counted as a real last name.
The Official Clarification
In a later interview with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang on The Circuit, Meghan went further and laid out the details.
“When I got married, I changed my name,” she said. “But it’s a complicated one for people to understand, because a last name is not typical in that construct.”
She acknowledged the confusion that comes with royal titles, especially for someone who grew up American. “I get it because I’m American… then you come back and as an American, you go, ‘I’m so confused.’ It’s a dukedom. So that’s the truth of it.”
Her legal name, she confirmed, is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. “Sussex for us works as our family name and it’s the name that we share with our children… Since we’ve been married, that’s what I’ve been called.”
How Royal Names Actually Work
In the British royal family, surnames are not used the same way as in everyday life. Titles often function in their place. Prince Harry was known as Harry Wales during his military service, taking the name from his father’s former title. After he was created Duke of Sussex on his wedding day in 2018, “Sussex” became the practical family name for him, Meghan, and later their children.
Archie and Lilibet were given the formal surname Mountbatten-Windsor at birth, but the family uses Sussex in daily life. Meghan has repeatedly said this shared name feels meaningful precisely because it belongs to all four of them.
Just Call Her Meghan
During a surprise appearance on MasterChef Australia (filmed while she and Harry were in the country), a judge introduced her formally as “the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle” and asked how she preferred to be addressed.
Her answer was simple: “Oh, call me Meghan.”
That has long been her approach in public settings. While she retains the title Duchess of Sussex, she and Harry often choose first names over formal styles when the moment feels more personal.
Why It Matters to Her
Born Rachel Meghan Markle, she has gone by Meghan for most of her life. Marriage into the royal family brought a new set of naming conventions that can feel opaque even to those inside the system. What she has emphasized is not protocol for its own sake, but the emotional weight of sharing a name with her husband and children.
“This is our family name, our little family name,” she said. For her, that appears to be the point.
The debate over what to call the Duchess of Sussex will likely continue in some corners. She has now stated, more than once and in her own words, how she sees it.