Surname law


Surname law can refer to any law regulating the use of surnames.

Iceland

Icelandic law enforces the conventions of Icelandic names, which require that the last name be derived from a given name of the father or mother, suffixed with "-son" or "-dóttir". The law allows both derivations to be used, and for foreign last names to be inherited or kept by foreigners. This means that a father, mother, and child will all typically have different last names. Foreigners who marry an Icelander and get Icelandic citizenship can take the last name of their partner, or a patronym or matronym from the name of a parent or parent-in-law; these possibilities are not necessarily open to native Icelanders.

Iran

ordered Iranians to adopt Western style surnames in place of old Islamic names and titles during his reign.

Japan

A law in Japan dating from 1896 requires a married couple to have a common surname. Most commonly it was the wife who took her husband's name. In 2011, this law was challenged as unconstitutional on gender equality grounds, but the Supreme Court of Japan upheld the law in 2015.

Prussian ruled Poland

Prussia tasked the implementation of surnames to E. T. A. Hoffmann.

Thailand

According to the current law, Person Name Act, BE 2505, to create a new Thai name, it must not be longer than ten Thai letters, excluding vowel symbols and diacritics. The same law also forbids the creation of a surname that duplicated any existing surnames, but there are some duplicates dating to the time before computer databases were available to prevent this. Some creations added the name of their location into surnames, similar to family name suffixes.

Turkey

On 21 June 1934, Turkey adopted the Surname Law which required all its citizens to adopt and use Western-style surnames. Only names with Turkish origin were permitted, and non-Turks with pre-existing surnames were required to adopt new Turkish names.