What's in a name?

The government is preparing legislation, which it hopes to see become law by the end of the year, regarding the registering of births, deaths, and marriages. This would change the current law, which dates back to 1957. Of the many aspects that the draft bill covers, debate has focused on the order that children's surnames should take.

Spaniards have two surnames, and under a law change in 1990 for registering babies, either the father's or the mother's can come first. Traditionally, however, it is the father's and in cases of disagreement among the parents, the father's name automatically takes priority.

The government's solution, to what is a very real problem for some couples, is a questionable one. The priority given to the father's name in the case of disagreement goes against the principle of equality enshrined in the Constitution. But deciding the matter on the basis of which of the parents' names is higher up the alphabet is far from being a good alternative.

The priority given to the father's name in the case of disagreement goes against the principle of equality enshrined in the Constitution

The government says using the alphabet to order the two surnames is the fairest method; critics have pointed out that in the long term, one consequence of the policy would be more people with names taken from higher up the alphabet. But there is a bigger problem: it is simply another form of discrimination. The reason is easy to see. In the event of any dispute between the parents over the order of their child or children's two surnames, the party whose name begins with a letter higher up the alphabet already knows that in the event of the matter going to court, the issue will be decided in their favor. All that would have happened is that one unfair procedure would have been replaced by another equally unfair one. As a result, the government is considering rectifying its position and finding an alternative to alphabetical order. Tossing a coin would be fairer.

The proposals outlined in the draft bill also address issues other than the name order of recently born children, and which are of arguably greater impact. A 2005 government decree did away with the need for the father's name to be included when registering the birth of a child. But the reality is that it is still extraordinarily difficult to register a child without the father's name. The draft bill was an excellent opportunity to resolve the problem. Spanish society has undergone significant change since 1957. For example, single mothers no longer suffer the same stigma, and neither do children whose father's name is not registered on their birth certificate.

The government's aim is to introduce legislation that reflects the reality of today's society, as well as bolstering its efforts to make Spain a more egalitarian place, which is why it is proposing that birth certificates make no mention of whether the parents are married, ending the difference between children born within, or out of, wedlock.