Matriname

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A matrilineal surname or matriname [1] [lower-alpha 1] is a family name inherited from one's mother, and maternal grandmother, and so on whose line of descent is called a mother-line, mitochondrial line, or matriline. A matriname passed on to subsequent issue is unchanged, as compared to a matronymic, which is derived from the first name of each new mother.

Contents

The term "matriname" was introduced by Prof. Bryan Sykes in his book The Seven Daughters of Eve , stating that "We would then all have three names: a first name, a surname and a new one, a matriname perhaps." [1] [lower-alpha 2]

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is inherited by biological motherhood whereas the matriname can be equally given after adoption or surrogacy. [1]

Single surname

The usual lack of matrinames to pass on in patrilineal cultures makes traditional genealogy more difficult in the maternal line than in the paternal line. [1] After all, father-line surnames originated partly to identify individuals clearly and were adopted partly for administrative reasons, [lower-alpha 3] and these patrinames help in searching for facts and documentation from centuries ago. Patrinames are stable identity-surnames, surnames which identify an individual, whether now or in the past or future; matrinames similarly are identity-surnames for women.

In the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) the UN holds the view, in item (g) of its Article 16, that women and men, and specifically wife and husband, have the same rights to choose a "family name" as well as a "profession" and an "occupation". [2] These three rights are a small part of the document's long list of rights related to gender equality meant to ensure women have equal opportunities to men. However, the United States has signed but not yet ratified this UN Convention. [2]

Sykes argues choosing a "family name", or surname, should mean combining a matriname with a patriname, to avoid discriminating against either women or men.

Some cultures have no surnames at all. If a culture has these then to not discriminate it combines both, as mentioned above; that is, the matriname and the patriname are both given in each child's birth record.

Note that one's resulting birth surname is one's legal surname, unless one changes the latter.

In several purely patrilineal cultures, including most of Europe, women traditionally change to their husband's patriname at marriage: see married and maiden names and name change.

Double surname

Some cultures use both paternal and maternal surname, such as Spanish naming customs, Portuguese names, and the naming customs of Hispanic America. The patrilineal surname—patriname—taken from the mother in these patrilineal cultures does not qualify as a matriname. Instead, this Hispanic practice uses the maternal patriname.

Double surnames were discussed in The Seven Daughters of Eve . [1] Double surnames were also used by one English family, along with the matriname "Phythian". [3] In this case the mother has the birth double surname "Phythian-Adams", and the father has birth double surname "??-Monkhouse". They both choose to retain their birth double surnames unchanged throughout their lives. They agree to denominate all of their daughters and sons with the birth double surname "Phythian-Monkhouse": The mother passes on her matriname (and mtDNA), and symmetrically, the father passes on his patriname. All of their sons have the Y-DNA of and, accordingly, the patriname "Monkhouse" of their patriline, while all of the daughters have both the mtDNA of and, accordingly, the matriname "Phythian" of their matriline. [1] [3] (Note that most societies give all children of a family the same surname, as in this example.) Each person has only one identity-surname, which in this example is either "Phythian" or "Monkhouse". The identity-surname of each is stable throughout life and always half of whatever double surname(s) he or she assumes throughout life, including at birth and marriage(s).

The parents in this example share this one family name, "Phythian-Monkhouse". [4]

One's own identity-surname (here, the matriname "Phythian" or the patriname "Monkhouse") are always available as one's own usage name, such as in one's profession/vocation.

In summary, gender-symmetric single surnames are simpler and briefer, but if used alone, give different surnames for members of the different genders in a nuclear family. In the double system, all of the children in a nuclear family have the same double surname. Also, the system generally records on all legal documents the matriname and patriname, with both identity-surnames later aiding each gender in genealogy and other searches of historical records. [1] [3]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The word "matriname" was used in scientific literature (referring to "maternal surnames", actually) for many years before Professor Sykes' 2001 book.
  2. ↑ Sykes uses "matriname", only, and states that women adding their own matriname to men's patriname (or "surname" as Sykes calls it) would really help in future genealogy work and historical-record searches. This suggests the double surname ideal. Sykes states on p. 292 that a woman's matriname will be handed down with her mtDNA, the main topic of his book.
  3. ↑ For a more complete historical background, see Surname § History, especially its first sub-section, Modern Era..

Related Research Articles

Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, rights, names, or titles by persons related through male kin. This is sometimes distinguished from cognate kinship, through the mother's lineage, also called the spindle side or the distaff side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surname</span> Part of a naming scheme for individuals, used in many cultures worldwide

A surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person.

Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline, their mother's lineage, and which can involve the inheritance of property and titles. A matriline is a line of descent from a female ancestor to a descendant of either gender in which the individuals in all intervening generations are mothers. In a matrilineal descent system, an individual is considered to belong to the same descent group as their mother. This ancient matrilineal descent pattern is in contrast to the currently more popular pattern of patrilineal descent from which a family name is usually derived. The matriline of historical nobility was also called their enatic or uterine ancestry, corresponding to the patrilineal or "agnatic" ancestry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitochondrial Eve</span> Matrilineal most recent common ancestor of all living humans

In human genetics, the Mitochondrial Eve is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all living humans. In other words, she is defined as the most recent woman from whom all living humans descend in an unbroken line purely through their mothers and through the mothers of those mothers, back until all lines converge on one woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family tree</span> Chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure

A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms.

In human genetics, the Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor is the patrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) from whom all currently living humans are descended. He is the most recent male from whom all living humans are descended through an unbroken line of their male ancestors. The term Y-MRCA reflects the fact that the Y chromosomes of all currently living human males are directly derived from the Y chromosome of this remote ancestor. The analogous concept of the matrilineal most recent common ancestor is known as "Mitochondrial Eve", the most recent woman from whom all living humans are descended matrilineally. As with "Mitochondrial Eve", the title of "Y-chromosomal Adam" is not permanently fixed to a single individual, but can advance over the course of human history as paternal lineages become extinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinship</span> Web of human social relationships

In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that the study of kinship is the study of what humans do with these basic facts of life – mating, gestation, parenthood, socialization, siblingship etc. Human society is unique, he argues, in that we are "working with the same raw material as exists in the animal world, but [we] can conceptualize and categorize it to serve social ends." These social ends include the socialization of children and the formation of basic economic, political and religious groups.

Ambilineality is a form of kinship affiliation of cognatic descent that relies on self-defined affiliation within a given social system, meaning individuals have the choice to be affiliated with their mother's or father's group. Common features of societies that practice ambilineality are a shared set of land, communal responsibilities, and collective ownership of some segments of wealth and debt in their societies. This system of descent is distinct from more common genealogical structures in that rather than determining affiliation and descent using the standard determinants of biological and genealogical relation, it instead relies heavily on voluntary affiliation with one's group, oftentimes being determined by factors including residence.

A matronymic is a personal name or a parental name based on the given name of one's mother, grandmother, or any female ancestor. It is the female equivalent of a patronymic. Around the world, matronymic surnames are far less common than patronymic surnames. In some cultures in the past, matronymic last names were often given to children of unwed mothers. Or if a woman was especially well known or powerful, her descendants might adopt a matronym based on her name. A matronymic is a derived name, as compared to a matriname, which is an inherited name from a mother's side of the family, and which is unchanged.

Genetic genealogy is the use of genealogical DNA tests, i.e., DNA profiling and DNA testing, in combination with traditional genealogical methods, to infer genetic relationships between individuals. This application of genetics came to be used by family historians in the 21st century, as DNA tests became affordable. The tests have been promoted by amateur groups, such as surname study groups or regional genealogical groups, as well as research projects such as the Genographic Project.

The Seven Daughters of Eve is a 2001 semi-fictional book by Bryan Sykes that presents the science of human origin in Africa and their dispersion to a general audience. Sykes explains the principles of genetics and human evolution, the particularities of mitochondrial DNA, and analyses of ancient DNA to genetically link modern humans to prehistoric ancestors.

In discussing consanguineal kinship in anthropology, a parallel cousin or ortho-cousin is a cousin from a parent's same-sex sibling, while a cross-cousin is from a parent's opposite-sex sibling. Thus, a parallel cousin is the child of the father's brother or of the mother's sister, while a cross-cousin is the child of the mother's brother or of the father's sister. Where there are unilineal descent groups in a society, one's parallel cousins on one or both sides will belong to one's own descent group, while cross-cousins will not.

A genealogical DNA test is a DNA-based genetic test used in genetic genealogy that looks at specific locations of a person's genome in order to find or verify ancestral genealogical relationships, or to estimate the ethnic mixture of an individual. Since different testing companies use different ethnic reference groups and different matching algorithms, ethnicity estimates for an individual vary between tests, sometimes dramatically.

A surname DNA project is a genetic genealogy project which uses genealogical DNA tests to trace male lineage.

Personal names in Malaysia vary greatly according to ethno-cultural group. Personal names are, to a certain degree, regulated by the national registration department, especially since the introduction of the National Registration Identity Card (NRIC).

Matrilineality in Judaism or matrilineal descent in Judaism is the tracing of Jewish descent through the maternal line.

A patronymic surname is a surname originated from the given name of the father or a patrilineal ancestor. Different cultures have different ways of producing patronymic surnames.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iksas (Choctaw Clans)</span> Choctaw clan system

Clans or iksa were the traditional pillars of political and social organisation within the Choctaw nation, though the same word is used to describe clans in the Chickasaw language. Similarly to the Cherokee and the Muscogee, the Choctaw clans were matrilineal and matrilocal, which exhibited important implications on gender roles. Historically, the clans were divided into either of two groups: the Imoklasha and Iholahata. The clans were primarily composed of people considered descendants of a specific ancestral group. The Choctaw stated to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions that the "nation would not exist" without the presence of iksa. Aside from its importance within families, the clans also shaped and directed ceremonies and legal practices.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sykes, Bryan (2001). The Seven Daughters of Eve . W.W. Norton. ISBN   0-393-02018-5; pp. 291–2. Professor Bryan Sykes uses "matriname", only, and states that women adding their own matriname to men's patriname (or "surname" as Sykes calls it) would really help in future genealogy work and historical-record searches. This effectively suggests the double surname presented in this article. Professor Sykes also states on p. 292 that a woman's matriname will be handed down with her mtDNA, the main topic of his book.
  2. 1 2 UN Convention, 1979. "Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Wome", or CEDAW. Archived at WebCite on 1 Apr 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 Sarah Louisa Phythian-Adams, 20 Aug. 2008. "In the Name of... Archived 2010-11-04 at the Wayback Machine ", an TheFWord.org featured article by the author. (To find the family tree etc. of this pioneering matriname double-surname case, search the article for the word "proposal".) Archived at WebCite on 1 Apr 2011.
  4. ↑ Stannard, Una (1977). Mrs Man. San Francisco: Germainbooks ISBN   0-914142-02-X; pp. 334–37 on actual invented surnames and pp. 84–88 on double surnames.
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