What is Beth Smith's maiden surname?

Beth Smith’s maiden surname is Sanchez. She is Rick Sanchez’s daughter, but she generally uses Smith after marrying Jerry Smith and becoming the mother of Summer and Morty.

The surname helps explain the family’s naming pattern. Rick is known as Rick Sanchez, while Beth’s children are called Summer Smith and Morty Smith. Beth therefore connects the Sanchez and Smith sides of the family, even though the household is usually identified as the Smith family. Her professional identity as a horse surgeon and her complicated relationship with Rick are central parts of her character.

Rick and Morty’s multiverse makes Beth’s name slightly more complicated than a standard family-tree question. Multiple versions of Beth appear across dimensions, including Space Beth, and individual realities can have different histories. In the main character’s background, however, Beth is identified as Beth Sanchez before taking the Smith surname through marriage.

Readers also sometimes confuse Beth’s maiden name with Diane Sanchez, the name associated with Rick’s wife and Beth’s mother in the show’s backstory. Diane is not Beth’s surname; Sanchez is Beth’s birth family name. Beth’s married surname is Smith, which is why the character is ordinarily called Beth Smith.