Family name and family structure : which perceptions ?

Marie-France Valetas, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

In France the law of 2002 at last enables parents to choose which family name to transmit to the children. However, the attachment to only the father’s name represents a major obstacle to a change of practice. The exploitation of the results of the “ Life History” survey conducted by INSEE in 2003 and carried out with 8 000 persons enables us to establish a typology of contexts furthering or not different representations and new practices. We already now that among men, attachment to the father’s name is seldom affected by marriage status; this is not the case with women. Contexts furthering new practices could be defined in addition of the structure of the household at the survey; for example family history of the interviewed person (parents’ divorce, composition of the sibling), parents’ nationality, objective and subjective situation of the interviewed in the order of generations.