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[chucklincanuck.livejournal.com]

Strange question....is it possible to give your child a last name which is different than their parents? 

For example, your name is Mary Lewis and your partner's name is John Walters. Could you (legally) name your child Jessica Hughes?

I don't know why anyone would want to to do this, but I have a bet going with my BIL and I'd like to win! Thanks!

Comments

Re: Baby: Different Last Name Than Parents-- 4 Possibilities

[chucklincanuck.livejournal.com]

1. This is the first I have heard of this.
2. Now that's different! Siblings with different last names (except when due to marriage), that's a new one!
3. This I can understand. It's still taking the last name of the legal guardian, though, and not some "made up" name.
4. I looked a lot online, didn't find much...

Re: Baby: Different Last Name Than Parents-- 4 Possibilities

[crossingthesea.livejournal.com]

As for the Indian names, the traditions of naming in different countries differ. Not all countries or peoples think of last names as fixed.

Take for example that in the US when we have two different last names, we tend to think of the last name listed as the "real" or definitive one. For instances, a Kate Smith Lee would most often be thought of as Kate Lee.

At the same time in Spain or Latin America, the order of names is the opposite with both the mother's and father's last name are used, but the first last name being the definitive one. Example Maria Jimenez Colon would be Maria Jimenez.

In my friend's case, her parents were new immigrants and didn't know how it was done in the US, so she had a different last name than her parents, as was traditional. By the time her twin sisters were born several years later, her parents rectified it by giving her sisters their last name (so she alone in her family had that last name). As I said, I don't know the exact details because we were little.

Long story, but I hope this makes it a bit clearer. :)

Re: Baby: Different Last Name Than Parents-- 4 Possibilities

[catchstars.livejournal.com]

Siblings with different last names are very common in Iceland: Here's a wikipedia article on Icelandic naming conventions. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_name) Basically, you have your father's first name as your last name, so if your dad is named Bjorn Jonsson, you would be Name Bjornsson (if you were Bjorn's son) or Name Bjornsdottir (if you were Bjorn's daughter). They also use matronymic names (based on the mother's name), so it is entirely possible for the to be Bjorn and Bryndis, and end up with children named Jon Bjornsson and Katrin Bryndisardottir.