The evolution of the family unit

Agnès Fine, an anthropologist at Paris's School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS), analyses the evolution of French laws concerning the handing down of patronymics. Under a new law passed a year ago, parents may give their children the last name of either the father, the mother or both. A century ago, in the not-too-distant past, parents had no say over their child's first or last name: they were part of a long tradition in which the father's last name was automatically passed down and where the first name was chosen by the godfather and godmother (...). Today, parents are free to choose the first name and, to a certain degree, the last name. The family is no longer conceived as a link in a generational line comprised of living and dead people, but rather as a space binding emotional and educational ties between parents and children in which the mother has claimed a rightful place - herein lies the importance of being able to hand down her name."

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