Children Receiving Mother's Name.

[screaming--pink.livejournal.com]

I remember reading somewhere that children traditionally were automatically given the surname of the mother.. stemming from Peasant/Noble times. Does this sound familiar to anybody? If I'm wrong, let me know, too. I just know I've heard something at some point or another that goes against traditional belief in society about a child having the father's last name.

ETA: I'm referring mostly to cases where the mother is unwed/kept her maiden name/has a different last name than the father.

Comments

[ciara-belle.livejournal.com]

Actually, there were some noblemen (and even kings) who would officially or unofficially recognize their bastard children. Especially if the bastard was a boy and the king didn't have any legitimate sons. Henry VIII's son with Bessie Blount was known as Henry FitzRoy (fitz=son, roy=roi=king). Charles II recognized just about all of his illegitimate children and all the boys got dukedoms.

But today, if the father isn't around and doesn't want to support the baby, yeah, I'd say the kid should have the mother's name.