Baby names

Factual Questions
1

If a couple is not married, but have a child together, what surname goes on the birth certificate? His or hers?

2

The poster of this question is in Ireland so I imagine it is different in each country

I know in Illinois the couple has the option of using the mother’s last name, the father’s last name or combining the two or giving the baby a different last name. The child does not have to have the father’s last name to be legitimate.

You have to check your local state laws. In any case, you can always legally amend and change your child’s name.

3

In Australia you can put any surname on the birth certificate. It does not have to be the surname of either parent. The marital status of the parents is irrelevant.

4

I always thought the baby got the father’s last name, if the parents were a couple, and the mother’s name if the father was out of the picture.

5

The baby’s.

6

It may vary by state, but you can generally name it anything. A guy I work with has been divorced for 10 years. His ex-wife recently had a baby with her boyfriend and gave it her ex-husbands last name although she changed her name to her maiden name after the divorce. Pretty strange, but there’s nothing against it.

7

IIRC if the parents aren’t married and disagree on the surname the mother get’s the final word.

8

The answers are:

  1. Whatever relevant law for your jurisdiction (nation, state, province, etc.) says.

  2. In the absence of such law, there is nothing legally binding use of a given surname. Any name desired by the child’s legal custodian (parent[s] or guardian) is acceptable.

  3. The customs have always been that a child of a single mother not living with the father and which is not acknowledged by the father gets the mother’s (maiden, or current f different) last name; a child acknowledged by the father or where the couple is living together gets the father’s last name. There will be occasional variances, where the couple hyphenates their names or the child is given the mother’s surname “to carry on the family name” or to comply with the wishes expressed in a will.

  4. Alphaboi is more or less right – unless there has been formal ‘filiation’ – legal ruling that A is father of B, the mother is the custodial parent at birth*, with the right to give the child its name. Filiation gives the father some say in the matter, though not the right to override her. (* Note that there are occasional exceptional instances, like an addict mother, where she will not be custodial parent by court order.)