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1. Should you name your child after the father or mother's last name?
Specifically, Article 26 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates the right to have a full name as follows:
- Individuals have the right to have a surname and a given name (including a middle name, if any). A person's surname and given name are determined by that person's birth surname and given name.
- An individual's surname is determined by the biological father's or biological mother's surname according to the agreement of the parents; if there is no agreement, the child's surname is determined according to custom. In cases where the biological father cannot be determined, the child's surname is determined by the biological mother's surname.
In the case of an abandoned child whose biological father or mother is unidentified and who is adopted, the child's surname shall be determined by the surname of the adoptive father or adoptive mother according to the agreement of the adoptive parents. In the case of only an adoptive father or adoptive mother, the child's surname shall be determined by that person's surname.
In the case of an abandoned child whose biological father and mother have not been identified and who has not been adopted, the child's surname shall be determined upon the request of the head of the child care facility or upon the request of the person requesting birth registration for the child, if the child is being temporarily cared for by that person.
Biological father and biological mother as stipulated in the 2015 Civil Code are father and mother determined based on the birth event; the person requesting surrogacy and the person born from surrogacy according to the provisions of the Law on Marriage and Family.
- Naming is restricted in cases where it infringes upon the rights and legitimate interests of others or is contrary to the basic principles of civil law as prescribed in Article 3 of the 2015 Civil Code.
The name of a Vietnamese citizen must be in Vietnamese or another ethnic language of Vietnam; the name must not be in numbers or in a character other than a letter.
- Individuals establish and exercise civil rights and obligations under their full name.
- The use of aliases and pen names must not cause damage to the legitimate rights and interests of others.
Thus , when naming a child, the child's surname is determined to be the biological father's or biological mother's surname according to agreement. If there is no agreement, it is determined according to custom. In case the biological father is not yet determined, the child's surname is determined according to the biological mother's surname.
2. Cases where one is allowed to change the child's surname
Individuals have the right to request competent state agencies to recognize a change of surname in the following cases:
- Change the child's surname from the father's surname to the mother's surname or vice versa;
- Change the adopted child's surname from the biological father's or mother's surname to the adoptive father's or mother's surname at the request of the adoptive father or mother;
- When an adopted child ceases to be an adopted child and this person or the biological father or mother requests that the person's surname be restored to that of the biological father or mother;
- Change the child's surname at the request of the biological father, biological mother or the child when determining the child's father and mother;
- Changing the surname of a displaced person who has discovered his or her bloodline;
- Changing the surname to the wife's or husband's surname in a marriage and family relationship involving foreign elements to comply with the law of the country of which the foreign spouse is a citizen or to regain the surname before the change;
- Change the child's last name when the father or mother changes their last name;
- Other cases as prescribed by law on civil status.
Note:
- Changing the surname of a person aged nine years or older must have that person's consent.
- Changing an individual's surname does not change or terminate civil rights and obligations established under the old surname.
(Article 27 of the 2015 Civil Code)
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