fuyusarah asked
ON FAMILY NAMES AFTER MARRIAGE (1/2): I read that according to the law in France, you need to use the name on your birth certificate. How interesting and convenient! No identity confusion and no need to change any legal documents! I also saw that the spouse' name can be added, if preferred. I guess this explains why Sabine is Dupain-Cheng----as in husband's family name, and then her own, which is the opposite of most English-speaking countries, I think.
(2/2) I’m wondering now, though, what Marinette’s name will be if she decides to add Adrien’s family name to hers if they get married. Will it be Marinette Agreste-Cheng? Something else? Does Adrien also have the choice to add Marinette’s name to his? Is this a normal thing to do? (Because I notice that Tom is only using Dupain.) What is usually done?
That is a very interesting question!!
Usually (as it’s the case in most occidental countries I believe?) the wife takes her husband’s name. (Traditions die hard.) But you are right that it is rare in France to legally change one’s name from what it reads on their birth certificate.
The legal process for name changes is long and complicated and needs all sorts of justifications that may or may not be approved. So in legal documents, Adrien stays as“Adrien Agreste” and Marinette stays as“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” HOWEVER, they can adopt usage names, i.e. what they call themselves aside from their legal name.
As we can see with Actual Best Mom Sabine Dupain-Cheng, there are quite a few possibilities for usage names!!
- Marinette could become Marinette Agreste
- Marinette could become Marinette Agreste-Dupain (or Dupain-Agreste)
- Marinette could become Marinette Agreste-Cheng (or Cheng-Agreste)
- Marinette could stay Marinette Dupain-Cheng
- Adrien could stay Adrien Agreste
- Adrien could become Adrien Agreste-Dupain (or Dupain-Agreste)
- Adrien could become Adrien Agreste-Cheng (or Cheng-Agreste)
- Adrien could become Adrien Dupain-Cheng
It’ll depend on what they choose!
Note: The husband fully adopting his wife’s surname as his usage name is still much less common than the wife fully adopting her husband’s surname. But if you headcanon that Adrien would enthusiastically take Marinette’s surname or a hyphenated combination when they get married (like Mod Lea), then you go for it!! Don’t let traditions stand in your way :DD
Additionally, there doesn’t seem to be a reason to order the husband’s name first, or the wife’s. It’s possible that, from a meta perspective, Sabine and Marinette both use“Dupain-Cheng” because it just rolls better off the tongue than“Cheng-Dupain.”
Now you didn’t ask about what their children’s last name would be, but I thought it would be relevant to include.
French parents have the option to choose which family name their children take: either the mother or the father’s family name, or a combination (hyphenation) in any order they choose (like Marinette).
However, if the parents decide to hyphenate, they are limited to one family name each, so you could do “Agreste-Cheng” or “Agreste-Dupain,” but not take all three names as in “Agreste-Dupain-Cheng.”
Additionally, parents have the option of choosing only one name from a double family name (though it requires a joint written declaration), so Marinette and Adrien’s children could be“Dupain” or“Cheng” as well.
(Source: French Civil Code Article 311-21, which can be found on Legifrance)
This is why neither Marinette nor Adrien can use “Agreste-Dupain-Cheng” (or any combination thereof) as their married usage name: their children couldn’t take that name as well.
