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History of naming -

Naming has a long, complex history, but for most of human history, it’s largely been an administrative practice to track genealogy.

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Ancient Greece and England -

In Ancient Greece, names usually included a reference to a place of origin. Meanwhile, in England, surnames were first restricted to nobility, only being used by wider society in the 1400s.

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European naming culture -

The majority of European naming culture takes origin in the English tradition; initially restricted to nobility and only subsequently making its way to the general population.

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Patrinames -

Patrinames, referring to surnames originating from a father-line, have been an identification method for many years.

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Documentation -

Identifying centuries-old documents and information has largely been possible due to this clear lineage.

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Both surnames used -

But there are cultures that have gone against the grain in this practice. Some cultures use paternal and maternal surnames for various reasons. Others tend only to use maternal surnames.

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Matriname and matronymic -

There are two terms that denote receiving your mother’s family name. The first is matriname and the second is matronymic.

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Matriname -

A matriname is inherited from one’s mother. This also acts as a line of descent, as it tracks a matrilineal name inheritance.

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Matronymic -

A matronymic is a surname originating from the given name of any female ancestor of the child. This was sometimes used for children born out of wedlock.

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Gender equality -

Surname choices have little to do with gender equality, as even the most gender equal places overwhelmingly use fathers’ surnames.

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Norway -

For example, in Norway, only one in every 100 people consider it "better" for a child to receive the mother’s surname instead of the father’s.

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Italian court -

In 2022, the Italian Constitutional Court ruled it unconstitutional to automatically provide a child with their father’s surname.

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Surname attribution -

This court decision challenged the common practice of father’s surname attribution and suggests both parents should come to an agreement about which surname to choose.

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Alternative practices -

While in Italy, the courts intervened to change a common practice, other nations have totally different norms. 

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Naming in China -

China is a bit back and forth in terms of its naming traditions. In Ancient China, surnames were derived from the mother. This was until the Shang Dynasty, when names became patrilineal.

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Cultural practices -

This stuck as part of China’s cultural practices, namely because sons carried on the family name. This helped the patriarchal naming practices remain intact until recently.

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More diverse -

Today, the practices are becoming more diverse. Some parts of the country are giving children their mother’s surname (about 9% of babies born in Shanghai received their mother’s surname) or combining parents’ surnames to create a double surname.

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Spanish-speaking countries -

In Spanish-speaking countries, such as Spain, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, or those that were under Spanish colonization, such as the Philippines, the trend is overwhelmingly to provide children both parents’ surnames.

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Portuguese tradition -

This practice is also common for Spain’s western neighbor, Portugal, where children often receive both their father and mother’s surname.

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Dictatorship period -

During the country’s dictatorship period, some men also took their wives’ last names to evade military service, which did result in a period of children taking mothers’ surnames, technically-speaking.

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Order of surnames -

While in Spanish-speaking cultures, the father’s surname typically comes first, in Portugal, the mother’s surname comes before the father’s.

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South Korea -

While in South Korea it is common to use the father’s surname, many ancestral records include many details about women and their birth families.

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Indigenous cultures -

In many indigenous cultures around the world, matrilineal naming practices are quite common and an intricate indicator of the child’s identity.

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Examples -

Examples of these cultures include the Iroquiois Confederacy and Cherokee Nation (North America), the Akan (West Africa), and the Naxi (China), among others.

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African cultures -

Many African cultures do follow a patrilineal system in terms of naming, but there are groups that have always and continue to maintain the matrilineal tradition.

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Luba people -

The Luba people from the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, receive their mother’s surname. Even property is passed down through the mother’s side of the family, as women have a central role in land distribution.

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Nandi people -

The Nandi people from Kenya often use a mother’s given name or clan name. Children also inherit social status from their mother’s side.

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Wolof people -

The Wolof people from Senegal, the Gambia, and Mauritania, also inherit their mother’s surname and men of the maternal family play a significant role in children’s upbringing.

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Yao people -

The Yao people from Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania also follow a matrilineal system. Children not only inherit their names, but also land and wealth from their mother’s side.

Sources: (Sixth Tone) (History) (BBC) (Indigenous History) (National Geographic) (PBS) (Time Magazine) (Medium) (My Heritage) (African Studies Center) (University of Chicago Press) (The Guardian) (The Atlantic)

See also: Prohibited baby names around the world

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