nee

Other forms: neer; neely

Use the word nee when you refer to a person's original, birth name. If your neighbor was Mary Jones until she got married to Larry White, you could introduce her to someone else as "Mary White, nee Jones."

If a woman marries and adopts her husband's last name, her former name becomes a thing of the past. If your grandmother's maiden name was "Smith," describe her as nee Smith. This works when people change their names for reasons other than marriage as well. Nee comes from the French née, the feminine past participle of naitre, "to be born."

Definitions of nee

1. adjective

   (meaning literally `born') used to indicate the maiden or family name of a married woman
   “Hillary Clinton nee Rodham”

   synonyms:

   heritable, inheritable

   capable of being inherited