"I don't know the legal basis, but it sure isn't the first time I've seen a child born out of wedlock somehow sporting his sperm-donor's legal name."
Actually his mother can call him anything she wants, just as you or I could change our names to anything we want. It doesn't constitute any legal advantage to share last name with the presumed father.
So, we could name our kids Vanderbilt if we wanted? Why keep one's family name at all, when it comes down to it, just pick out any old last name that appeals to the caprice of the moment...
If I wanted to legally change my name, it'd take a little more than the will to do so.
Makes little sense. Why couldn't any woman with a paternity claim name her kid after the defending male, whether he did the "fathering", or not? It gives her quite a moral advantage until the DNA result comes in. Does the innocent male have any recourse, I wonder, at finding his name so used?
I guess you're saying that it is only convention, nothing legal, in "handing down a name."