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No you dont have to give the baby his last name but if he takes you to court you will have to have a really good excuse to not want it if the judge asks him if he wants the baby to have his last name and he says yes.

no thats ur call

Hi Heather, Yes, it he acknowledges the baby as his then you can put him on the birth certificate but you were not married and he cannot make you give the baby his last name. You could name the baby what ever you want. He doesn't have to sign the birth certificate but that is not his decision it is yours. I gave my baby my last name and I am happy I did because he is now two and it makes life easier.

I gave my baby girl MY last name. Best decision I've ever made. Just as I thought.. her father has seen her for 2 HOURS during her 4 1/2 weeks outside the womb. Nice, eh?

If the baby is a boy you must give him his father's last name. If the baby is a girl, you could name her what ever you wan't.

I have a 3 year old daughter that I only found out about a little over a year ago I briefly got back together with an old girlfriend who contacted me and let me know her two year old daughter could be mine even through she never even told me she had gotten pregnent and had told her next boyfriend he was the father so I had another mans name on the birth certificate on top of that she ended our fling went back to the other guy got married and wanted me to have nothing to do with my daughter who I despertly wanted to be with all I had was a dna test not even sure where she lived since all this happened when her and her boyfriend/husband where living with the parents while they sold there house and where moving into a new one and I didn't know where it was since she came to me she told her husband and family that I had tracked her done came to her work theatened her with a court ordered paternity test and almost got her fired from work anyway after almost a year and half 3 attorneys 1 private investigator several attempts to file for parentage in court( the courts wouldn't even except filings since there was already a father on the birth certificate who was still living together and now married I finally got a joint agreement with the mother after agreeing to pay all back child support and medical bills plus weekly child support even whe she didn't feel like letting me have her acording to are agreement but she had said she never change our daughters name from his name to mine so even after we had our joint agreement signed by both of us and our lawyers, payed coutless thousands to her and my lawyers and now having a great father child relationship with my daughter with no help fom her(she won't even call me daddy to my daughter even though she knows and calls me that) the courts wouldn't except our joint filing and I had to file additional filing for parentage and other things and our currently on a 28 day hold giving them time to respond one of our filing was to change the childs surname from his to mine she responed by taken her away fon me last night until the courts make her let me see her probably a month I have never missed a visitation or been without my daughter since the last time she decided to take her away from me before last thanksgiving over the same issue actually also money she wanted another 1800 dollars over the amount the lawyers worked out and I gave it to her to see my daughter this is how the courts treat a paternal father who loves and wants to be with his daughter and protects a women and man(he new I later found out) that should be held acountably for what I believe should be a criminal act know different from kidnapping how would the courts treat me if I had taken our daughter out of the hospital kept her hidden for 2 1/2 years and then demanded 10000 dollars before she could see her so that is what I am going through to give my baby my name

HELL NO YOU DON"T

You can name the baby whatever you want. You can put the father's name on the birth cerfiticate or leave it off. Its up to you.

It doesn't matter where you live in the US. The mother gets the say so in the surname of the baby if she wasn't married to the father. And if the mother was still married to another man at the time, the child gets the married man's name originially but once the ex-husband clears his name and the mother gives a child her name, it is set in concrete. Those kind of cases are about 1 in a million that a father would win in court if there was a marriage at the time by the mother. A father can not say that it will hurt an emotional bond or anything that lacks merit or that the mother did it to be hurtful since she doesn't need the father's consent unless she gives him his name. If she wanted to name the child Brad Pitt or Catherine-Zeta Jones she can if she wishes.

Your not married, hell no you don't have to give the baby his last name. Definitly give the child your last name. The mother is the one who goes through the pregnancy, ( morning sickness, leg cramps, blotchy skin, fatigue, mood swings, labor, "CONTRACTIONS" ) so I say she earns her rights to the choice of the childs name. How selfish for any "BOYFRIEND" to insist on the privelige of the last name. If the NAME of the child is so important to a father then maybe marriage should also be as important to him, I mean since the men insisting on their last name do have "THE CHILDS" best interests in mind, RIGHT?

This is a good question. I live in Texas. My cousin has a son and when she went to court for child support, the judge told her that her son would have to have the father's last name in order for her to receive support. I was shocked and irritated. I spoke with 1 lawyer who was not sure, another lawyer who told me that is the "law" in TX (child has to be named after the father to receive child support). I find that hard to believe and discriminatory. I'm due in February and will retain a lawyer to help me sort through the confusion. Has anyone else in Texas heard of this?

I hope not. I want my child to have my last name considering he probably won't help with ANY of the pregnancy or the raising of our child. Of course his name will be listed as the father, but not at the end of my baby's. I just hope it won't be a legal problem for me later.

no but each state is diffrent, but u can give ur baby any last name u want, yours his any good luck

I am in a very similar situation as you... My duaghter carries my last name even though her dads name is on the birth certificate. We even have child support and visitation orders through DES (the court system). You should be able to name your baby with your last name. Check with your local Division of Child Support Enforcement for more details. I hope this helps you some!

I, have a boy with me sinse he was six months old he does not have a father last name I, like to give my last name to him.

Nope, you can name the baby whatever you want. You can give s/he a last name that is even different from yours and the father's.