Birth name


The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births register or birth certificate may by that fact alone become the person's legal name. The assumption in the Western world is often that the name from birth will persist to adulthood in the normal course of affairs—either throughout life, or until marriage. Some possible changes concern middle names, diminutive forms, changes relating to parental status, and changes related to gender transition. Matters are very different in some cultures in which a birth name is for childhood only, rather than for life.

Maiden and married names

The French and English-adopted terms née and né have been used to indicate maiden or married names.
The term née, having feminine grammatical gender, can be used to denote a woman's surname at birth that has been replaced or changed. In most English-speaking cultures, it is specifically applied to a woman's maiden name after her surname has changed due to marriage. The term né, having masculine grammatical gender, can be used to denote a man's surname at birth which has subsequently been replaced or changed. The diacritic marks are considered significant to its spelling, and ultimately its meaning, but are sometimes omitted. According to Oxford University's Dictionary of Modern English Usage, the terms are typically placed after the current surname. Because they are terms adopted into English from French, they do not have to be italicized, but often are.
In Polish tradition, the term de domo may be used, with rare exceptions meaning the same as née.