Giving Father's Name to Child Shouldn't Be Automatic: Court

[Demovictory9]

Children should not automatically be given the father's surname at birth, a court in Italy has ruled, calling the traditional practice "discriminatory and harmful to the identity" of the child. Newborns should receive the surnames of both parents, the court said in a statement, the Guardian reports. Parents should decide the order, or decide to give their child just one surname, the statement said. "Both parents should be able to share the choice of a surname, which is a fundamental element for one’s personal identity," the court said.


Under the current law, Italian families have been unable to give a child the mother's surname unless the mother is single or the father refuses to be part of the child's life, the New York Times reports. The ruling requires legislation approved by Parliament to have the force of law. Elena Bonetti, Italy's family minister, posted online that the administration would support the move.

"We need to give substance [to the decision] ... and it is a high priority and urgent task of politics to do so," Bonetti said, per the Guardian. The parents should assume equal responsibility in raising their child, she added. Lawmaker Cecilia D’Elia, a leader on women's issues, also praised the decision, the Times reports. The top court's decision has "canceled the last patriarchal legacy in family law," D'Elia said. "The mother’s name will have the same dignity as the father’s, a sign of civilization."

https://www.newser.com/story/319871/italian-court-give-children-names-of-both-parents.html

[LakeArenal]

1. Costa Rica uses both parental names.

Thomas Santos Vega. Santos mom. Vega dad

[CrispyQ]

2. Are there laws about this in the US or just tradition?

Although, for most of us, if we took our mother's surname it would be her father's surname.

[LeftInTX]

4. I don't think there are laws in the US

However, my third great grandfather had 20 children out of wedlock. (Two women. He refused to marry for a certain reason)
His son was a state senator, who got them all legitimized. This was in like 1815.

We have tradition, but we don't have laws.
I think we're free to name our kids Spaghetti Monster if we want.

[Caliman73]

7. "...most of us, if we took our mother's surname it would be her father's surname."

That is what I was thinking, even in Latin countries that use both the mother and father's last name, the mother's last name is typically her father's last name. A woman's maiden name is usually the father's surname.

It would take a lot of unraveling to unweave that history of "posession" by men and marriage to unify families.

[milestogo]

3. This is fine for the first generation.

But how many names should a child be expected to carry? Two from each parent, plus a first name... that's five names. And the next generation could have nine names...

[LeftInTX]

5. In Spanish tradition, the mother's name is usually carried for a generation.

However, Spanish nobility frequently carries a string of names.

Children born illegitimately in Mexico were traditionally banned from their father's names.

Get a load of this guy's name:
Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filiberto Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla

He shortened it to:
Rudolph Valentino

He did not come from nobility. I don't know why he had so many names. I believe his surname was Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella
Valentino's mother's name was: Marie Berthe Gabrielle Barbin

[milestogo]

8. In my current job I help a lot of Brazilian computer users

and I have a colleague from Brazil. He was explaining this to me.

He has four names. His first name isn't even in his email address. And there's a limit to how long the email address can be. It seems whoever is creating the IT records for this global company doesn't know what to do with all the names.

There's a lot of duplicate names too. So you'd better know exactly what the full name of someone is the first time you contact them or you'll get the wrong employee.

[LeftInTX]

9. Most people from Mexico have four names:

First, Middle, Surname, Mother's maiden

As in the US, often the middle name isn't used. However, some go by their middle name.

Sometimes baptismal names are involved and everyone is a Maria or Joseph. This is an old tradition.

Everyone in colonial Mexico was Ma ...or Jph..kinda like Mr or Mrs or Maria, Joseph, eventually Joseph was changed to Jose.

When baptismal salutations were common, middle names were not common. Guadalupe Ramirez Ortiz = Maria Guadalupe Ramirez Ortiz or Ma Guadalupe Ramirez Ortiz

[chowder66]

6. I think they would chose one name from each parent.

Chris Jones-Davis (m+f) marries Lisa Hayworth-Lloyd (f+m)

has

James Davis-Lloyd (f+m)

Could get confusing except for genealogists. : )