Is there any country on which the maternal last name is used instead of the paternal one?

Question

I would like to know if there are any countries on which they use the mother's last name instead of the father's.

I'm from Mexico, and in here let's say that: Juan Perez (father) and Rosa Gomez (mother) have a child, so the full name would be Diana Perez Gomez, but actually for legal purposes, the child will be Diana Perez. I know it's the same for countries like Japan, for example. Is there any country on which the surname for legal purposes would be Diana Gomez?

Answer 1

That's a nice question. It made me go to explore a little bit. This is what I found out on Wikipedia:

"Although it is rare for English-speaking men to take the name of their wives, some men still choose to do so (such as among Canadian aboriginal groups)" - i assume that their children also inherite family, mother's last name

"In France, until January 1, 2005, children were required by law to take the surname of their father. From this date, article 311-21 of the French Civil code permits parents to give their children either the name of their father, mother, or a hyphenation of both"

"In Germany today, upon marriage both partners can choose to keep their birth name or adopt a hyphenated name of their birth names, or one of them can switch to their partner's name (if the partner keeps it). After that, they must decide on one family name for all their future children, by pretty much the same rules."

In Portuguese speaking countries-"Each person has usually two family names: the first is the maternal family name; the last is the paternal family name. A person can have up to six names (two first names and four surnames — he or she may have two names from the mother and two from the father)."

"However, nowadays in Spain and in many countries of Spanish speakers (former Spanish colonies, e.g. Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela), most people have two surnames, although in some situations only the first is used. The first surname is the paternal one, inherited from the father's paternal surname. The second surname is the maternal one, inherited from the mother's paternal surname. (As an example, Mexican boxer Marco Antonio Barrera's full name is Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia, though Barrera is the only one used in general conversation.)"

"In Iceland, most people have no family name; a person's last name is a patronymic, i.e. a modified form of the father's first name or, sometimes, the mother's."

"A similar tradition called ru zhui (入贅) is common among Chinese when the bride's family is wealthy and has no son but wants the heir to pass on their assets under the same family name. The Chinese character zhui (贅) carries a money radical (貝), which implies that this tradition was originally based on financial reasons. All their offspring carry the mother's family name. If the groom is the first born with an obligation to carry his own ancestor's name, a compromise may be reached in that the first male child carries the mother's family name while subsequent offspring carry the father's family name."

This is what I found out by now. I hope that it will be helpfull to you.

Answer 2

I know that in Spain and most Spanish-speaking countries the child has the mother's surname. Actually, they have both parents' surnames but they use the mother's. e.g. If Antonio Perez and Rosa Quintero have a child, the child would be [name]Perez Quintero.

Answer 3

Technically in Mexico the dual surname is a legal surname. Your example with only the paternal surname is only the case when that hispanic person goes somewhere without that system and either one name gets dropped or becomes a middle name.

Answer 4

Honduran Last Names

Answer 5

Illegitimate children normally take on their mother's name.