Should I take my mother’s or my father’s surname?

There is no dispute that a child has a right to a name. The dispute comes in situations where the child living with either the mother or father needs to take up a surname and wonders what last name to take up. In such a scenario, whose name should he/she take up; father’s or mother’s?

Should a child take up their father’s or mother’s surname?
In a petition in a New York court, the judge ruled that neither parent has a superior right to dictate the surname of a child. In so ruling, the court demolished the tradition of giving the child his/her father’s name. In most cultures, the art of patronomy, the practice of naming the child after the father, is entrenched. On the other hand, has long been that non-marital children take up their mother’s last name. It was also possible for one to change their father’s name only after the parents divorced and there was proof that the father had forfeited his right.

Sex Equality in Naming laws
Over the years, courts have respected the constitutional right to sex equality that is entrenched in the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The right to gender-neutral naming laws evolves from this recognition and many courts have struck down the father’s absolute right to naming their children. Essentially, traditional views are being challenged and with so many different types of families in this day and age, there is no one correct answer.

The rise of feminism and gender neutrality in the modern society has greatly contributed to a child’s choice in their surname. A child can now take up whichever name they deem fit for themselves. Whether the child will choose his/her mother’s or father’s last name is solely up to them, and they always have the option to change their surname by submitting a notification name change letter should they wish.