Née or nee, originally a French word meaning “born,” is used to indicate the name at birth of a married woman who has since changed her name. In English née or nee is usually followed only by a family name. Thus you should say Mary Parks, née Case, not née Mary Case. The word has been used since 1758, though now it is usually restricted to society columns and obituaries. Since this term now usually sounds outdated or affected, you may want to avoid it outside of these contexts. Finding substitutes, such as born or formerly known as, is easy enough: Mary Parks, formerly known as Mary Case.
