Women, young people… Who are these French people who want to change their surname?

In another reality, the Eiffel Tower could have been called something else. In 1877, Gustave Bonickhausen requested permission to change his surname. More easily pronounceable for the French, less tinged with the “German consonance which inspires [des] doubts about his French nationality”, as he then pleaded with the Minister of Justice, the name was granted to him two years later. The engineer was neither the first nor the last: according to figures from the Ministry of Justice, 3567 people made a similar request last year.

A bill defended by the deputy of Hérault Patrick Vignal (LREM) and supported by the government intends to facilitate the process. Adopted at first reading by the National Assembly, the text will be examined by the Senate on February 15. It plans to allow any adult who wishes, once in their life, to choose the name of their second parent to add to their current name, or to replace it. A way to respond to the suffering of people who struggle to bear the name of their parent, but also to mark a societal evolution. According to the lessons of the exclusive survey carried out by Ifop for L’Express, 22% of French people would like to change their surname if this law is adopted. Among them, many women (26% against 17% of men), but especially a majority of young people: 29% of 25-34 year olds and 47% of 18-24 year olds express the desire.

A generational issue

In a France very marked by the transmission of the father’s name, that of the matronymic (the name transmitted by the mother) would be reinforced. “30% of French people wishing to change their name would take that of their mother, and 47% both names, points out Jérôme Fourquet, director of the opinion and business strategy department of Ifop. This figure rises to 45% among 18- 24 years old, a difference of more than 10 points with 35-49 year olds. A generational aspect linked to questions about identity, but also to the interest shown by the youngest in the new issues of feminism.”

Currently, changing your surname is often an obstacle course. It is only possible to modify it with a legitimate reason, for example a surname difficult to bear because perceived as pejorative or ridiculous. The request must be published at Official newspaper and in a journal of legal notices. Once these steps have been taken, the costs of which are the responsibility of the applicant, the request must be sent to the Minister of Justice and await his response. According to an estimate sent to L’Express by the Chancellery, approximately 35% of change requests are rejected. Instead of this procedure, the bill must allow you to simply fill out a Cerfa form at the town hall. For minors, this request is subject to the agreement of both parents holding parental authority, or that of the parent exercising it alone.

Putting the “woman at the center”

What to avoid “a long and humiliating procedure”, had indicated in December Eric Dupond-Moretti to the magazine She. With this proposal, the majority intends to provide a response to everyday life situations. “It is a bill that is inspired by reality, assures Patrick Vignal. The notion of couple has evolved, it must be taken into account.” And the deputy cites “concrete cases”: a child bearing the name of a bomber, an adult whose father killed her mother, another sexually abused by her parent… So many surnames accompanied by a painful history from which people wish to separate.

A way also, for others, to pay homage to the one who raised them. “The majority of children bear their father’s name, while the mother obtains custody in 80% of cases, underlines the MP. The idea is not to stigmatize the father, but to put the woman back at the center, to equality.” Has our patronymic system become outdated? “Not in the figures: in fact, it is the father’s name alone that is transmitted, observes Sibylle Gollac, sociologist at the CNRS. 83% of children born in 2014 continue to bear their father’s name, 10% both names, and only 7% that of the mother.”

A report with a changed name

These old habits also concern women, who, when they marry, largely adopt the surname of their husband, although no law obliges them to do so. According to the Ifop survey, 80% of married French women change their surname, with however a sharp decrease according to age: 90% of women over 65 bear the surname of their husband, against 61% of 18-34 years old. “This phenomenon is much more frequent in the circles of executives and intellectual professions, observes Jérôme Fourquet. 57% of them change their name, when the intermediate professions, employees and workers have adopted it at 70% or more.”

A sign of the power of ideological transformation coming from “superior educated women”, as evoked, in his last work, Where are they? anthropologist Emmanuel Todd ? “We see here the characteristics of a practice and concerns that emanate from the younger generations and CSP+, which has not yet spread to popular circles”, explains Jérôme Fourquet. Still in use, this predominance of the surname seems about to change. “The idea that the name should express a family fusion is still very strong in the minds of the French, explains anthropologist Agnès Fine. But, with recent societal transformations, the proliferation of single women or blended families, this report in the name has changed.”

The same time

Less necessary to represent a unit, the name also fulfills less one of its original purposes: to allow the State to identify its citizens. “We can now do it by social security numbers, continues the researcher. The name is becoming less and less an instrument of legal control.” In the same way that the first name was able to stand out at the end of the 20th century, the name would take a similar path and would become an “important marker of personal identity”. And demands, too. If in the 1970s, feminists did not make it a central fight, those of today make the issue of the name one of the epicentres of their struggle. Evidenced by the petition that inspired the bill, carried by the collective Porte mon nom, bringing together more than 35,000 signatures. She denounces legislation that deprives women of “freedom and equality”. “The rise of the feminist current and the rapid evolution of traditional family patterns are helping to undermine the historical rule that wanted to bear the father’s name”, summarizes Jérôme Fourquet.

By facilitating the passage of this bill – it has initiated the accelerated procedure for this text – the executive is not missing the opportunity to send a signal to its left at a lower cost. Patrick Vignal, a former member of the Socialist Party, is also pleased to have seen “all the left-wing groups” in the Assembly vote in his favour. “This law will unclog the Chancellery and will not cost a penny. But it is also a measure of social justice”, he assures. A “at the same time” perceived as beneficial just over two months before the presidential election. “This bill takes little time, and has value in the eyes of many. It is a fairly natural societal signal, which had its place at the end of the five-year term, where it is better to avoid a text getting bogged down if we want it to succeed,” said a source at Matignon. And for good reason: in the Assembly, the text was adopted by 49 votes to five with two abstentions.

In the Senate, he risks coming up against the head of the LR senators, Bruno Retailleau, for whom this law contributes to the deconstruction of society and the family. The opportunity for the majority to mark its difference. “It’s a politically unmarked measure, quite transverse. But philosophically, it’s not neutral. It’s a modification of the legal framework which gives the possibility of breaking with a traditional pattern, analyzes Jérôme Fourquet. These so-called societal laws can be tidied up with PMA or the extension of abortion, and will be sold to the public by all those who vote for them as claiming to be part of a progressive current. Changing names to give pledges.