Matriname
Encyclopedia
Matrilineal surnames, or equivalently matrinames, are inherited or handed down from mother to daughter (to daughter) in matrilineal cultures, and this line of descent or "mother line" is called a matriline. For clarity and brevity, the scientific term matrilineal surname will usually be simplified as matriname.
The more familiar patrilineal surnames are likewise inherited or handed down from father to son (to son) in patrilineal cultures (or societies), and likewise appear here simplified as patrinames. These father-line surnames, more commonly called family names, are treated in-depth in the Family name
article.
The present article, Matriname, aims to likewise present what is known about mother-line surnames, first as single surnames and then as part of double surnames. For clarity and brevity, exceptions such as adoption will be ignored.
The terms family name or surname are used interchangeably in this article—and similarly father-line or patrilineal, and mother-line or matrilineal.
.
Note that the term "maternal surname" might be confused with "matriname" but maternal surname actually means mother's surname, which is a patriname (instead of matriname) for most cultures today –– see the whole Family name
article. Note also that one's mother's patriname(s) may be inherited from either or both of one's mother's parents, in some patrilineal cultures in the Family name article. Such patrilineal cultures would permit matrinames to co-exist with patrinames there, as follows:
The mitochondrial DNA
or mtDNA is handed down (or inherited, or passed) from mother to child, and the Y-chromosome
DNA (Y-DNA) from father to son, whether or not any surname even exists in that society. In patrilineal cultures, the patriname is handed down from father to son with their (built-in) Y-DNA, while in matrilineal cultures which have matrinames, similarly the matriname is handed down from mother to daughter with their built-in mtDNA. Thus, even within a patrilineal culture, if any women who thus share the same built-in mtDNA are able to choose a surname and then hand it down to successive generations, by definition that surname would become a matrilineal surname or matriname within a patrilineal culture. The test of whether a particular surname is a matriname is to determine whether it is actually being handed down from mother to daughter (to daughter) in a matriline.
The usual lack of matrinames to hand down in patrilineal cultures, see the whole Family name
article, makes traditional genealogy
more difficult in the mother-line case than in the normal (father-line) case. After all, father-line surnames originated partly "to identify individuals clearly" and/or were adopted partly "for administrative reasons," see Family name (History); and these patrinames help now in searching for facts and documentation from centuries ago. Thus, patrinames are stable identity-surnames, surnames which identify an individual, whether now or in the past or future; and matrinames similarly are identity-surnames for women.
Relatively recently, in its 1979 "Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women," or CEDAW, the UN officially adopted a provision, item (g) of CEDAW's Article 16, to the effect that women and men, and specifically wife and husband, shall have the same rights to choose a "family name", as well as a "profession" and an "occupation". These three rights are just part of the document's long list of women's rights
or gender equality
rights which women need to have, the same as men need them. The United States has not yet ratified this UN Convention, or multilateral treaty, see CEDAW.
Thus, in non-discriminating States, women may eventually gain the same right to their own matriname as men have traditionally had (within father-line cultures) to their own patriname. And similarly, within mother-line or matrilineal cultures, men may gain the right to their own patriname. In other words, the handing down of both matrinames and patrinames would co-exist within each culture in order to avoid discriminating against either women or men. (Note that some cultures have no surnames – but if a culture has surnames then in this regard a non-discriminating culture would be a both-lines [mother-line and father-line] or ambilineal culture.)
This surname symmetry
between the two gender
s – this surname gender symmetry – will be mentioned again in the Double surname section below.
Actual use of a matriname would involve, first, the women who share one's built-in mtDNA choosing/inventing their new matriname (perhaps like men originally choosing/inventing their surnames, which is described here) and then, one's using it in each new daughter's birth record (or birth certificate
).
This use of the mother's matriname would be parallel to and symmetric with the normal use of the father's patriname in each new son's birth record. Note well, this is the above-mentioned "handing down of both" the matriname and the patriname.
It should be mentioned that the patriname is always a single surname, like Smith or Jones, never a double surname like Smith-Jones or Smith Jones – and similarly the matriname would always be a single surname, never a double surname. And, just as men normally never change their patriname, so also women would normally never change their matriname. Thus both identity-surnames would be equally stable over the generations.
Note that one's birth surname is one's legal surname, unless one changes the latter – such as in some purely patrilineal cultures where women traditionally change to their husband's patriname at marriage, as described in Married and maiden names
and in Name change
.
Here is a specific example to illustrate and summarize these concepts: the father and sons in a nuclear family
have the very-familiar patriname Smith while the mother and daughters have the matriname Momline as their own (equally stable) identity-surname.
This section has focused on the single surname, for simplicity and clarity, before covering the resulting double surname in the next section.
; and an actual case from England, with the family matriname Phythian, is thoroughly demonstrated and discussed in a "feature" article which is available online.
As a specific example of these double surnames, let the matrinames be Mamaname and Momline and let the patrinames be Smith and Jones. The mother (with birth double surname Momline-Jones, say) and the father (with double birth surname Mamaname Smith, say) keep their legal or birth double surnames unchanged throughout their lives, and agree somehow to give all of their daughters and sons the double birth surname, Smith Momline : The mother hands down the matriname part of her birth surname while, symmetrically, the father hands down the patriname part of his. All sons have the patriname Smith as well as the Y-DNA of their patriline, while all daughters have both the matriname Momline and the mtDNA of their matriline. (Note, most or all cultures in Family name
do give all children in a family the same surname or family name, as in this example.)
The family in this specific example could choose to handle its three coexisting legal surnames Momline-Jones, Mamaname Smith, and Smith Momline by all using just one family "usage name" in daily social life at school, with friends and extended family
, etc., a concept presented in the article French name, in its subsection Changes of names. (Possible samples of this family's usage name might be: any one of its three coexisting double surnames; or one of its two single surnames Momline or Smith; or Momith or any other invented name.) (Also, single surname families can use such usage names too, see this footnote.) The family's three legal surnames, however, must be used in their respective members' own legal documents, and may also be used otherwise such as in the respective members' own professional/vocational lives.
Rather than keeping their own birth or legal surnames, the parents in this example might prefer, at marriage, to change their legal surnames to Smith Momline, the same as their children-to-be, so that their nuclear family would all share this one legal surname.
Of course one's own identity-surname (here, the matriname Momline or the patriname Smith) is always available as one's own usage name, such as in one's vocational life.
This double surname example should be compared with its single surname version at the end of the previous section.
An overall comparison: The gender-symmetric single surnames presented in the previous section enjoy the advantage of being simpler and briefer – but these double surnames do display (and record on legal documents) both matriname and patriname, with both identity-surnames aiding each gender in genealogy work and other historical-record searching.
The more familiar patrilineal surnames are likewise inherited or handed down from father to son (to son) in patrilineal cultures (or societies), and likewise appear here simplified as patrinames. These father-line surnames, more commonly called family names, are treated in-depth in the Family name
Family name
A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
article.
The present article, Matriname, aims to likewise present what is known about mother-line surnames, first as single surnames and then as part of double surnames. For clarity and brevity, exceptions such as adoption will be ignored.
The terms family name or surname are used interchangeably in this article—and similarly father-line or patrilineal, and mother-line or matrilineal.
Single surname
Matrinames have existed since before patrinames and since even before 1600 BCE, see the China section of the article MatrilinealityMatrilineality
Matrilineality is a system in which descent is traced through the mother and maternal ancestors. Matrilineality is also a societal system in which one belongs to one's matriline or mother's lineage, which can involve the inheritance of property and/or titles.A matriline is a line of descent from a...
.
Note that the term "maternal surname" might be confused with "matriname" but maternal surname actually means mother's surname, which is a patriname (instead of matriname) for most cultures today –– see the whole Family name
Family name
A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
article. Note also that one's mother's patriname(s) may be inherited from either or both of one's mother's parents, in some patrilineal cultures in the Family name article. Such patrilineal cultures would permit matrinames to co-exist with patrinames there, as follows:
The mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...
or mtDNA is handed down (or inherited, or passed) from mother to child, and the Y-chromosome
Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes in most mammals, including humans. In mammals, it contains the gene SRY, which triggers testis development if present. The human Y chromosome is composed of about 60 million base pairs...
DNA (Y-DNA) from father to son, whether or not any surname even exists in that society. In patrilineal cultures, the patriname is handed down from father to son with their (built-in) Y-DNA, while in matrilineal cultures which have matrinames, similarly the matriname is handed down from mother to daughter with their built-in mtDNA. Thus, even within a patrilineal culture, if any women who thus share the same built-in mtDNA are able to choose a surname and then hand it down to successive generations, by definition that surname would become a matrilineal surname or matriname within a patrilineal culture. The test of whether a particular surname is a matriname is to determine whether it is actually being handed down from mother to daughter (to daughter) in a matriline.
The usual lack of matrinames to hand down in patrilineal cultures, see the whole Family name
Family name
A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
article, makes traditional genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
more difficult in the mother-line case than in the normal (father-line) case. After all, father-line surnames originated partly "to identify individuals clearly" and/or were adopted partly "for administrative reasons," see Family name (History); and these patrinames help now in searching for facts and documentation from centuries ago. Thus, patrinames are stable identity-surnames, surnames which identify an individual, whether now or in the past or future; and matrinames similarly are identity-surnames for women.
Relatively recently, in its 1979 "Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women," or CEDAW, the UN officially adopted a provision, item (g) of CEDAW's Article 16, to the effect that women and men, and specifically wife and husband, shall have the same rights to choose a "family name", as well as a "profession" and an "occupation". These three rights are just part of the document's long list of women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
or gender equality
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
rights which women need to have, the same as men need them. The United States has not yet ratified this UN Convention, or multilateral treaty, see CEDAW.
Thus, in non-discriminating States, women may eventually gain the same right to their own matriname as men have traditionally had (within father-line cultures) to their own patriname. And similarly, within mother-line or matrilineal cultures, men may gain the right to their own patriname. In other words, the handing down of both matrinames and patrinames would co-exist within each culture in order to avoid discriminating against either women or men. (Note that some cultures have no surnames – but if a culture has surnames then in this regard a non-discriminating culture would be a both-lines [mother-line and father-line] or ambilineal culture.)
This surname symmetry
Symmetry
Symmetry generally conveys two primary meanings. The first is an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance; such that it reflects beauty or perfection...
between the two gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
s – this surname gender symmetry – will be mentioned again in the Double surname section below.
Actual use of a matriname would involve, first, the women who share one's built-in mtDNA choosing/inventing their new matriname (perhaps like men originally choosing/inventing their surnames, which is described here) and then, one's using it in each new daughter's birth record (or birth certificate
Birth certificate
A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a child. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuing registration of that birth...
).
This use of the mother's matriname would be parallel to and symmetric with the normal use of the father's patriname in each new son's birth record. Note well, this is the above-mentioned "handing down of both" the matriname and the patriname.
It should be mentioned that the patriname is always a single surname, like Smith or Jones, never a double surname like Smith-Jones or Smith Jones – and similarly the matriname would always be a single surname, never a double surname. And, just as men normally never change their patriname, so also women would normally never change their matriname. Thus both identity-surnames would be equally stable over the generations.
Note that one's birth surname is one's legal surname, unless one changes the latter – such as in some purely patrilineal cultures where women traditionally change to their husband's patriname at marriage, as described in Married and maiden names
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
and in Name change
Name change
Name change generally refers to a legal act allowing a person to adopt a name different than their name at birth, marriage, or adoption. The procedures and ease of a name change depend on the jurisdiction. In general, common law jurisdictions have loose limitations on name changes while civil law...
.
Here is a specific example to illustrate and summarize these concepts: the father and sons in a nuclear family
Nuclear family
Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...
have the very-familiar patriname Smith while the mother and daughters have the matriname Momline as their own (equally stable) identity-surname.
This section has focused on the single surname, for simplicity and clarity, before covering the resulting double surname in the next section.
Double surname
Double surname systems which combine a matriname with a patriname (in either order, and with/without a hyphen) – thus providing the above-mentioned gender symmetry – are as follows: matriname patriname, matriname-patriname, patriname matriname, and patriname-matriname. Three of the four possibilities are used together in the example below. Such double surnames were proposed in the book The Seven Daughters of EveThe Seven Daughters of Eve
The Seven Daughters of Eve is a book by Bryan Sykes that presents the theory of human mitochondrial genetics to a general audience...
; and an actual case from England, with the family matriname Phythian, is thoroughly demonstrated and discussed in a "feature" article which is available online.
As a specific example of these double surnames, let the matrinames be Mamaname and Momline and let the patrinames be Smith and Jones. The mother (with birth double surname Momline-Jones, say) and the father (with double birth surname Mamaname Smith, say) keep their legal or birth double surnames unchanged throughout their lives, and agree somehow to give all of their daughters and sons the double birth surname, Smith Momline : The mother hands down the matriname part of her birth surname while, symmetrically, the father hands down the patriname part of his. All sons have the patriname Smith as well as the Y-DNA of their patriline, while all daughters have both the matriname Momline and the mtDNA of their matriline. (Note, most or all cultures in Family name
Family name
A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
do give all children in a family the same surname or family name, as in this example.)
The family in this specific example could choose to handle its three coexisting legal surnames Momline-Jones, Mamaname Smith, and Smith Momline by all using just one family "usage name" in daily social life at school, with friends and extended family
Extended family
The term extended family has several distinct meanings. In modern Western cultures dominated by nuclear family constructs, it has come to be used generically to refer to grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, whether they live together within the same household or not. However, it may also refer...
, etc., a concept presented in the article French name, in its subsection Changes of names. (Possible samples of this family's usage name might be: any one of its three coexisting double surnames; or one of its two single surnames Momline or Smith; or Momith or any other invented name.) (Also, single surname families can use such usage names too, see this footnote.) The family's three legal surnames, however, must be used in their respective members' own legal documents, and may also be used otherwise such as in the respective members' own professional/vocational lives.
Rather than keeping their own birth or legal surnames, the parents in this example might prefer, at marriage, to change their legal surnames to Smith Momline, the same as their children-to-be, so that their nuclear family would all share this one legal surname.
Of course one's own identity-surname (here, the matriname Momline or the patriname Smith) is always available as one's own usage name, such as in one's vocational life.
This double surname example should be compared with its single surname version at the end of the previous section.
An overall comparison: The gender-symmetric single surnames presented in the previous section enjoy the advantage of being simpler and briefer – but these double surnames do display (and record on legal documents) both matriname and patriname, with both identity-surnames aiding each gender in genealogy work and other historical-record searching.
See also
- Family nameFamily nameA family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
- Gender equalityGender equalityGender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
- List of matrilineal or matrilocal societies
- Lucy Stone LeagueLucy Stone LeagueThe Lucy Stone League is a women’s rights organization founded in 1921. Its motto is "My name is the symbol of my identity and must not be lost"...
(on the topic of identity-surnames). - Married and maiden namesMarried and maiden namesA married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
- MatrilinealityMatrilinealityMatrilineality is a system in which descent is traced through the mother and maternal ancestors. Matrilineality is also a societal system in which one belongs to one's matriline or mother's lineage, which can involve the inheritance of property and/or titles.A matriline is a line of descent from a...
- PatrilinealityPatrilinealityPatrilineality is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well....
- Women's rightsWomen's rightsWomen's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
External links
- Lucy Stone League official website (on the topic of identity-surnames)