The current tradition of children all receiving their father’s surname (last name) is not symmetric. Why does each son carry the family name on through marriage and future generations, while each daughter (usually) carries the family name only to her wedding day, and does not pass it on to her children?

Figure 1: Traditional (Asymmetric) Male-based Surnaming

I propose that sons receive the father’s surname, while daughters receive the mother’s surname.

Figure 2: Gender-Symmetric Surnaming

Note the advantages of this new proposal:

• It is symmetric with respect to gender.  No longer are females and their names treated with less respect than males and their names.
  
  
• Each child has a name to use through marriage and throughout life, and which he or she may pass on to future generations (if he or she has any same-sex children).

• While the family may be referred to as the Smith-Jones or Jones-Smith family, the individuals within it are unencumbered by hyphenated names.

• The male surname will pass through the male lineage: the son of the son of the son of John Smith will carry the Smith name. Similarly the female surname will pass through the female lineage: the daughter of the daughter of the daughter of Mary Jones will carry the Jones name.

• There is a biological validity to this naming scheme: Male lineages reflect a single particular Y chromosome, for the son of John Smith will get his Y chromosome only from his father and not his mother. Female lineages reflect the maternal mitochondria, for the daughter of Mary Jones gets her mitochondria (complete with their mitochondrial DNA) from the egg of her mother and not from the sperm of the father.

• Men and women being different, there is a certain logic to grouping the sons with the father and the daughters with the mother.

Thus, in conclusion, let’s give all our children names of equal import – names which they can keep, carry proudly, and perhaps pass on to the next generation.

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