Listen: "I don't know whose surname my baby should take"

Listen as KZN chats to Damon about this debate, or read the details under the podcast.

Females taking on a male’s last name is an age-old tradition and it seems that most unmarried parents let their child take on the surname of the dad. It’s not exactly a common practice to take on the mom’s surname, but in Spain, it is reported that both the father and mother's surnames are passed on.

So, in this day and age, parents may give their child any name they choose. Traditionally, children born to married parents have the same last name as their father. A child can have the mother's surname, a hyphenated name made up of both the mother and father's surnames (otherwise known as a double barrel), or any name the parents choose.

Read: 'How does love between a couple turn into hatred?'

But if the parents aren't married, should the baby get the mother or father's surname? This is what an unmarried KZN man wants to know, and he sent me a voice note to share his story. 

Here's what he had to say:

I would say keep the dad’s surname because that’s what happens most of the time, but then what happens if the couple separates? That becomes a whole other issue.

Read: What is the number one thing you think couples argue about?

We put up a poll on Monday night to find out what our Twitter audience had to say, and the results were the complete opposite of what I was expecting. 

In addition to the votes, we also received a few comments about the debate.

So when it comes to an unmarried couple expecting a child, whose surname is the child supposed to take? Let me know by voting in the poll, then commenting below:

Main image courtesy of Pixabay/Heidelbergerin