Keeping one’s surname and passing it on. Applying the 2002 French law on double surnames

French law no. 2002-304 (4 March 2002) on the reform of family names, which came into effect in 2005, enables parents registering a birth in France to give their child either the father’s surname, the mother’s surname, or a “double name” formed of both parents’ surnames “combined in the order of their choice, but limited to one family name for each parent”. This new law means that women can now hand down their surnames to the next generation. Based on a qualitative survey of around 50 people who gave a double surname to their child, this article shows how women who marry can take advantage of this new law without being obliged to abandon their own birth name in order to share a surname with their children, which is generally an option they would prefer. This article studies the handing down of double family names, not in legal terms, but based on the situation of women who choose this option.