Letters to the Editor
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Oh my goodness
It is just so, so, not the government's business what surnames people give their babies. Instead of coming up with ideas about what combination of names to force on people the government should just back out and get rid of any law concerning this issue.
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Italy has no real problems.
If they did, I'm sure their government wouldn't be wasting time on this.
Seriously, though, this is the sort of thing that gives left-wing governments a bad name. Rome can't even do a decent job collecting taxes. Every time I travel to Italy I'm amazed at how well Italians have done for themselves and their country, considering they haven't had decent govenment since the 3rd century.
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Why not regulate names
Velora, the reason that governments get involved with what people give children for last names is related to the reason why governments register marriages. It is all about property rights, in this situation, to make it easy to keep track of which child belongs to which parent.
Many countries also have laws about what people can give their children for first names. The stated reason is to keep parents from giving their kids weird or confusing names. For example, in Scotland one cannot name one's child "Duke" or "Princess" or "Earl." In France, all children must be given the names of Catholic saints or "persons known in ancient history." In Iceland, there is a list of approved names that must be used unless both parents are foreigners. (They also use patronymic or matronymics instead of what we think of as last names.)
Let the Italians do what they want.
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Anon
Re: Letting the Italians do what they want, it seems like there are some Italians who do not like these laws and are trying to change them. I say let those Italians do what they want too. Same names are no requirement for inheritance-- if a child's parents are not married they might be inheriting directly from their mother or her family. Having the father's last name will not help at all with that situation.
It should be left up to the couple what name the child gets. It'll probably end up being the father's name most of the time anyway, but that's the parents' decision to make, not the government's.
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Italians apparently want name regulation
Valora, you are suggesting that the Italians get rid of all laws regarding the naming of children and seem to be suggesting that regulating names is not a valid excercise of governmental power. I disagree with you.
The Italians, if you would read the article, wish only to modify the existing law so that the child may take the mother's last name even if the father is known, or that both names be used. I say, let them do that. In Italy, people identify more strongly with their last name, perhaps you were unaware of this, but unlike the U.S., Italian women do not change their names when they marry.
When I say "property rights" I'm not referring to inheritance law. I'm referring to the idea that children in some sense "belong" to their parents. (This is perhaps less true in the U.S. now, but that doesn't mean it is not a traditional concept.) By saying that the child belongs to his or her father by giving him the father's name without the mother's name diminishes her contribution. What some women are suggesting is that the children be given both parents' names as is done in Spain, or that the children sometimes be given the mother's name even if the father is known. They are not asking for the power to give the kid some other name entirely as you suggest, and it wouldn't fit in with their societal expectations about names. People here have the same issue, women who would otherwise keep their names change them because they are afraid that it will cause confusion if they don't have the last name as their husband and children. (And I've heard of that argument being used by men who have threatened to call off weddings if their wives-to-be don't agree to take their names.) Personally, I'd like to see the "both names" option adopted as the standard in this country, but that's not how things work here.
Again, if you would read the article, you would understand that last names are more important to the Italians AS A SOCIETY than they are to you, living in a different society. That is why I say "let the Italians do what they want"-- my point is that governing naming practices is a perfectly legitimate excercise of governmental power for all you and the other poster want to pooh-pooh it. Names have power in society as well as to the individual.
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Solution
EVERY woman in Italy should choose her baby's surname, claiming "I'm not certain who the father is."
Irate husbands will demand that the law be changed so that they are not called "cuckold".
Mission accomplished!
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Does this sound a bit familiar?
"Italy has no real problems. If they did, I'm sure their government wouldn't be wasting time on this."
Maybe they should focus on passing a Flag burning amendment or anti-gay marriage amendment, instead.
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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.
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Anon
I am aware of the of the different cultural naming practices you mention. Getting rid of laws governing naming practices will have no effect on those within the culture who wish to continue traditional naming practices. However, in most cultures there will inevitably be a small subset of the population that wants to do things differently than other people. That's why periodically you will hear about lawsuits by nontraditional families against the government in countries with restricive naming practices. Those are the people whose freedoms need to be protected. If there is only one family in all of Italy that wants to name their child something like Sunshine McGee, that's enough of a reason to get rid of laws like this.
Italy is also a diverse country with a growing population of immigrants who will certainly want to continue using their own naming practices for their children. Some African traditions require a son to take his father's *first* name as the child's last name. And there are more than a few Africans in Italy.
Also, as homosexuality becomes increasingly accepted, new problems will arise. Lots of lesbian couples have the sperm-donor act as a father in their children's lives. How will the government regulate names when a child has three parents?
No naming law can encompass all of the possibilities that human ingenuity can come up with, which is why it should be up to individuals to decide what names mean to them.