The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the

surname In many societies, 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, although several give ...

, the

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births register or

birth certificate A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the Childbirth, birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation ...

may by that fact alone become the person's legal name. The assumption in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

is often that the name from birth (or perhaps from

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

or ''

brit milah The ''brit milah'' (, , ; "Covenant (religion), covenant of circumcision") or ''bris'' (, ) is Religion and circumcision, the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism and Samaritanism, during which the foreskin is surgically removed. According to t ...

'') will persist to adulthood in the normal course of affairs—either throughout life or until marriage. Some possible changes concern middle names,

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

forms, changes relating to parental status (due to one's parents'

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, fro ...

by different parents), and changes related to

gender transition Gender transition is the process of affirming and expressing one's internal sense of gender, rather than the sex assigned to them at birth. It is a recommended course of treatment for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria, providing impro ...

. Matters are very different in some cultures in which a birth name is for

childhood A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

only, rather than for life.

Maiden and married names

The terms née (feminine) and né (masculine; both pronounced ; ), adopted into English from French, have been used to indicate a pre-marital or maiden name, or an original birth name that was later changed. The term ''née'', having feminine grammatical gender, can be used to denote a woman's

at birth that has been replaced or changed. In most English-speaking cultures, it is specifically applied to a woman's maiden name after her surname has changed due to

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

. The term ''né'', having masculine grammatical gender, can be used to denote a man's surname at birth which has subsequently been replaced or changed. The diacritic marks (the

acute accent The acute accent (), , is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin alphabet, Latin, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic, and Greek alphabet, Greek scripts. For the most commonly encountered uses of the accen ...

) are considered significant to its spelling, and ultimately its meaning, but are sometimes omitted. According to

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

's '' Dictionary of Modern English Usage'', the terms are typically placed after the current surname (e.g. 'Ann Smith, ''née'' Jones' or 'Adam Smith, ''né'' Jones'). Because they are terms adopted into English from French, they do not have to be italicized, but often are. In Polish tradition, the term ''de domo'' (literally meaning "of house" in Latin) may be used, with rare exceptions meaning the same as ''née''.

Notes

References

{{reflist Human names Birth

Maiden and married names

See also

Notes

References