<P> Matrilineality is the tracing of descent through the female line . It may also correlate with a societal system in which each person is identified with their matriline -- their mother 's lineage -- and which can involve the inheritance of property and / or titles . A matriline is a line of descent from a female ancestor to a descendant ( of either sex ) in which the individuals in all intervening generations are mothers -- in other words , a `` mother line '' . In a matrilineal descent system , an individual is considered to belong to the same descent group as her or his mother . This matrilineal descent pattern is in contrast to the more common pattern of patrilineal descent from which a family name is usually derived . The matriline of historical nobility was also called her or his enatic or uterine ancestry , corresponding to the patrilineal or `` agnatic '' ancestry . </P>
<P> Matrilineality is the tracing of descent through the female line . It may also correlate with a societal system in which each person is identified with their matriline -- their mother 's lineage -- and which can involve the inheritance of property and / or titles . A matriline is a line of descent from a female ancestor to a descendant ( of either sex ) in which the individuals in all intervening generations are mothers -- in other words , a `` mother line '' . In a matrilineal descent system , an individual is considered to belong to the same descent group as her or his mother . This matrilineal descent pattern is in contrast to the more common pattern of patrilineal descent from which a family name is usually derived . The matriline of historical nobility was also called her or his enatic or uterine ancestry , corresponding to the patrilineal or `` agnatic '' ancestry . </P>
kinship traced through the mother 's family is called what kind of descent
kinship traced through the mother 's family is called what kind of descent
matrilineal
matrilineal