(no subject)

[raincitygirl]

Ugh. Busy couple of days, haven't even looked at LJ/DW. Also, I think I may have to give up reading the news. It's uniformly depressing.

Is it possible for a baby to be legally given a surname that neither of its parents have? I overheard a pregnant woman at Starbucks talking with a friend and saying she and her husband wanted to give the baby her mother’s (so the baby’s grandmother’s) maiden name. Apparently neither this woman nor her husband are close to their fathers, and the woman is close to her maternal grandfather. I was intrigued, and wondered if what this woman would like to do is even possible, to put that other surname on the birth certificate.

The only situation I can think of wherein a baby was given a different surname than its legal parents is in Dan Savage’s “The Kid: An Adoption Story”, a book from the late 1990’s which recounts the saga of Savage and his partner adopting a child. They couldn’t decide which surname the baby should have, and didn’t want to hyphenate, so they gave him his birth mother’s surname. So evidently in some jurisdictions (as I recall, the baby was born in Portland, Oregon, but it’s been many years since I read the book) it is indeed possible.

Comments

[bktheirregular]

From a brief search, it does seem to depend on the jurisdiction - some may be more permissive than others.

[raincitygirl]

Thank you!

[jesuswasbatman]

This happens in Iceland (strict patronymic or matronymic naming) and I understand it can cause serious problems crossing international borders due to feats of trafficking/abduction.

[raincitygirl]

That's very interesting. Thank you!

[katherine]

Naming Your Child section at http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/life-events/births-adoptions/births/birth-registration reads as any last name whatsoever. No numbers or slashes in a name though!

[raincitygirl]

VERY interesting. Thanks!