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The baby-name debate, Italian style
Italian law has long required that newborns get their dads' last names, but a new roster of female lawmakers is proposing some changes.
Page Rockwell [2006-08-28]

  • Happened in Québec years ago

    In Canada, naming and marriage are matters of provincial jurisdiction.

    In the province of Québec, women do not take their husband's name at marriage.

    In Québec, a child's family name is "a single or composite family name consisting of no more than two parts of the parents' family names." In other words, it may be the father's surname, the mother's, or the two of them hyphenated together in either sequence; however, if either of the parents already have hyphenated surnames, the total number of components in the child's name must not exceed two.

    Strangely enough, society has not come to an end since these measures were adopted (1981 - 25 years ago!). We do have a lot of children with long names, but that's hardly a problem. The enthusiasm for hyphenated surnames peaked at about 20% of births in 1997 and has now dropped off.

    -- Justin Bur
    [Read Justin Bur's other letters]
    Tuesday, August 29, 2006 07:18 AM
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