Who Wants the Double Surname in Italy? An Empirical Analysis of Preferences and Behaviors

The 2022 ruling by the Italian Constitutional Court (no. 131/2022) abolished the automatic transmission of the father’s surname to children, granting parents full freedom to assign either the father’s, the mother’s, or both surnames in the order of their choosing. This decision marked a potentially symbolic revolution in terms of gender equality. Yet little is known about how the new legal framework has affected parents’ actual practices and preferences. This article presents the results of an original study combining data from a nationwide online survey of 3,000 respondents and administrative birth records from the city of Turin. The findings indicate that gender, education, and political orientation are key predictors of stated preferences in favor of the double surname, along with the perceived normativity of the paternal surname. Actual naming practices, while less innovative than stated intentions, similarly reflect the influence of education and political context, and reveal a particularly high use of the double surname among mixed couples (Italian mother and foreign father), where it serves to convey dual identity and potentially mitigate discrimination. These results provide novel insights into how symbolic changes in family law interact with individual values, social norms, and broader cultural dynamics.