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Lone parents

Use our Single Parent forum to speak to other parents raising a child alone.

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Original poster

What IS the law about giving a babys surname?

19 replies

misty0 · 18/03/2011 11:13

Hi there,

I'm trawling the net to find out what the actual law is about who's surname the baby of unmarried parents gets. Or is it realy just a just a case of arguing it out?!

I'm 10 weeks pg, and not married to babes dad, and he's hinting that he wants the baby to have his surname. We're living happily together - but I'm not to sure i'm happy about doing this.

I'm not wanting to quote laws at him - i'd just like to know .....

There's lots of answers on yahoo about this - but its all just opinion. Anyone know what site i need to go on to get the bottom line please?

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BooBooGlass · 18/03/2011 11:14

There is no law afaik. WHy are you posting on lone parents if you are happily living together though? And why are you unhappy for our baby to have his surname?

BikeRunSki · 18/03/2011 11:14

The default is mother's surname and nationality. Some mums don't who the dad is.

DuelingFanjo · 18/03/2011 11:16

you'll have to come to an agreement before you register the birth, particularly if you are going to go together.

Original poster

misty0 · 18/03/2011 11:16

Sorry - yeah - i was just about to say i'm not alone. But i wasn't sure which forum to aim at

i'm normaly on the pregnancy forum here. Sorry again

OP posts:

eastegg · 18/03/2011 11:21

I'm pretty sure there's no law telling you what surname to give your child. It's up to you, and by that I mean both of you as if partner's name goes on birth certificate (and I'm guessing he'll want that) then you both have parental responsibility (you will have it automatically) and so both have equal say over this sort of thing. Can you use both names? I hope you work it out.

Original poster

misty0 · 18/03/2011 11:22

Thank you ladies x

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 18/03/2011 11:23

there is no law. you can choose to give whichever you prefer.

we went double barrelled in the end so that they had both names and there would never be any confusion as to whether we were both the parents.

cestlavielife · 18/03/2011 11:24

you can give him/her any surname you want

yours, his, make it doube barrelled ...soemthing completely different - it is entirely up to you. if father attends to register the birth then clealry between you you should agree ottherwise what si teh point??? you dont want to be arguing in front of the registrar....
up to you both

www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_family/family/birth_certificates.htm#naming_the_child_on_a_birth_certificate
Naming the child on a birth certificate
The mother of the child can give the child any first and surname she chooses. She may give the child the father?s surname if she wants and she does not need the father?s consent to do this. In Northern Ireland details about a father who is not married to the mother may only be entered in certain circumstances.

A man registered on the birth certificate as the father of the child has no right to insist that the child is given a particular name, for example, his surname.

A married couple can also choose any surname for their child. It does not have to be the name of either of the parents.

www.warwickshire.gov.uk/Web/corporate/pages.nsf/links/A46CF3EE34D1B73680257384004F0B19

What information shall I need to supply to the Registrar?

Baby -

The date and place of the baby?s birth. If the birth is one of twins, triplets etc., then the time of each baby?s birth will be needed.
Whether the baby is a boy or a girl.
The forename(s) and surname in which it is intended that the baby will be brought up.

iskra · 18/03/2011 11:25

There's no law. I know several kids with their mothers surname, including myself. There was a thread about this fairly recently in baby names.

Hassled · 18/03/2011 11:25

I was going to suggest double-barrelled, which is what I did - as long as the surnames aren't several syllables each so it becomes too much of a mouthful. And then you can't really have a several-syllable first name.

thuckingsumbs · 18/03/2011 11:30

Your baby will be referred to by your surname in hospital. Thing to bear in mind though is if you are not married to babies father and you give baby fathers surname, then if you breakup baby will have a different surname to you.

I wasn't prepared to have my DS have a different surname to me so I insisted on giving him both mine and XPs surnames (which thankfully seem to work together). We of course are no longer together, he's an eijit of the highest order, and I'm very very glad my DS doesn't just have his name. And nursery seem to be using only my surname from his doubled barrelled one and I couldn't give a hoot .

There is no law that says your baby has to have fathers surname. It's the norm, but doesn't have to be.

Original poster

misty0 · 18/03/2011 11:33

There ARE some lovely double-barrels out there, i work in a primary school so i see alot of names!

However, our two would make a right old mouthfull, lol, both are only two syllables, but both are ones you have to 'spell out' over the phone ect. i don't think we'll go for that .... poor kid

Well, we've got till Oct to decide -

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Original poster

misty0 · 18/03/2011 11:36

exactly, thuckingsumbs, you've right, thats why im not keen on giving his name. x

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 18/03/2011 11:37

when i did ds2's child benefit application online i couldn't fit his whole name on the form! lol

onadietcokebreak · 18/03/2011 11:42

Is your relationship good? Remember putting dad on birth cert gives him parental responsibility.

Have a look on direct.gov

thuckingsumbs · 18/03/2011 14:18

The father being present when the birth is registered and therefore having parental responsibility does not automatically mean the child has to have the father's surname. And as a side note, legal having Parental Responsibility does not actually mean the twunt will take any responsibility whatsoever , but this can actually be a good thing.

portaloo · 18/03/2011 20:26

I gave my eldest a different surname to me, not the fathers.
I gave my youngest her father's surname.
Putting baby's father on birth certificate does give him PR, but if he wasn't on birth certificate and wanted PR, it is merely a formality in court and he would probably get it anyway. Very simple application.

elastamum · 19/03/2011 00:06

I gave me son's their fathers surname before we married, but i nver changed mine. 10 years on we are divorced. My children have a differrent surname to me and my youngest wants to change his name to mine but his father wont allow it.

CointreauVersial · 19/03/2011 00:13

I gave our oldest two DCs my DP's surname - mainly because I knew we'd get married eventually, and I hated my maiden name. We did get married, had a third DC and all have the same (nice) surname. Hoorah.

But I do remember the registrar saying I could call the baby Fred Bloggs if I so desired; there was no restriction on the surname.

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