The Hindu : International : Now they can take their mother's name

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 03, 2004

International

International

Now they can take their mother's name

By Jon Henley

PARIS, NOV. 2. French women have won a small but significant victory over the mighty forces of Gallic bureaucracy with the publication of an amendment allowing children to bear their mothers' surnames.

Until now, under a law that like so many in France dates back to Napoleon, parents have had to pass on the name of the father. From January, they will be able to give "either the name of the father, or the name of the mother, or the two surnames [in either order]."

The law still requires that the surname chosen for the first child of a couple must also be given to all following offspring. And it stipulates that in the event of the parents being unable to agree, "the name of the father will prevail."

The amendment follows an earlier relaxation of France's strict naming laws. In 1993, the much-loathed official list of acceptable first names was scrapped, although public prosecutors can still intervene — at the request of anyone who makes a complaint — if the chosen name is thought likely to prove "contrary to the interests of the infant." French parents have since succeeded in giving their children such names as Ratatouille, Michel-Jacquesson, Lambada and even Cletoris.

Besides pleasing feminists, who welcomed it as "a major step towards the equality of the sexes in France," the amendment satisfies students of onomastics (the study of names), who have argued that many regional and old surnames would disappear unless rules were relaxed. © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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