law (surnames) In France, until 2005, children were required by law to take the surname of their father. If the father was unknown, the child was given the family name of the mother. Since 2005, article 311-21 of the French Civil code permits parents to give their children the name of either their father, mother, or a hyphenation of both - although no more than two names can be hyphenated. In cases of disagreement, both parents' family names are hyphenated, in alphabetic order, with only the first of their names, if they each have a hyphenated name themselves. A 1978 declaration by the Council of Europe requires member governments to take measures to adopt equality of rights in the transmission of family names, a measure that was repeated by the United Nations in 1979. Similar measures were adopted by Germany (1976), Sweden (1982), Denmark (1983), Spain (1999), and Austria (2013). In France, a person may use a name of a third party (called the common name) in the following circumstances: anyone – to add or use the name of a parent whose name he does not bear. This results from the application of Article 43 of Law No. 85-1372 of 23 December 1985. For example, in the case of children of divorced and remarried parents, to help differentiate the family composition. married people or widows – by adding or substituting the name of their spouse. Substituting the name of the husband is an established custom but has never been enshrined in law. For example, social security laws require the wife and husband to provide the "maiden name" or birth name. This right also applies to divorced couples, provided that the ex-spouse does not object and the other has a legitimate interest, such as because they have custody of the couple's children. Since Law No. 2003-516 of 18 June 2003 on the devolution of family names, there is no longer any distinction between the name of the mother and the father. A child may receive the family name of one or the other, or both family names. Decree No. 2004-1159 of 29 October 2004 implemented Law No. 2002-304 of 4 March 2002, provided that children born on or after 1 January 2004 and children changing names, may have or use only the family name of the father or the mother or both family names. However, whichever form is used, a person's