Free Republic

Most people believe that it is up to the woman getting married whether she takes her husband's last name or not - but that kids should generally get their father's name The wedding of Amal Alamuddin to George Clooney in Venice has been one of the most talked about events of 2014. Amal, who is a prominent human rights lawyer in the UK, caused a certain amount of controversy due to her decision to take Clooney's last name as her own. Furthermore, unlike many women with professional careers, she will also professionally be known as 'Amal Clooney' instead of 'Amal...

All Michael Buday wanted to do was take the last name of his wife, Diana Bijon, when they married. But it took two years, a lawsuit alleging sex discrimination and a change in California law before he picked up his new drivers license in the name of Michael Bijon on Monday. "It was personal. I feel much closer to (Diana's) father than I do mine. She asked me to take her name and I thought it would be very simple. I never imagined the state would make it so difficult," Michael Bijon, 31, told reporters. He discovered it would take...

A married couple is suing the District of Columbia after they were denied the right to give their baby the mother's last name. Margaret McGilvray and Daniel Redmond had a son, their first child, on March 11, and wanted to name him Alexander Hayden Redmond McGilvray. Their plan was thwarted when hospital officials in Washington, D.C., told them the practice was outlawed. A guideline, written by Urbane Bass III, the district's chief of vital records, reads, "If the mother was married at the time of birth, the surname of the child shall be the legal surname of the father at...