What's in a name?

Spain decends into the pit. Shame on the King for being such a woose.

Spain may upend name game in gender equality push

MADRID – A name in Spain might not stay the same.

Spain's Socialist government has found a new place to push for gender equality, seeking to erase all vestiges of male bias from the country's double-barreled last names.

Spaniards have two surnames, and under current law for registering babies, either the father's or the mother's can come first. Traditionally, however, it is the dad's and in cases of disagreement among the parents, the father's name automatically takes priority.

But under a bill presented to Parliament, if a couple does not specify an order or cannot agree on one, a child's last names would be assigned in alphabetical order.

"I think this is good and also much more egalitarian," Jose Antonio Alonso, a Socialist Party spokesman in the lower chamber of Parliament, said Thursday.

Opposition conservatives called the change unnecessary and vowed to fight it.

Most Spaniards use both last names, such as Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, although some use just one, like the singer Julio Iglesias. In some Latin American countries, people are also legally obliged to have two last names.

Zapatero prides himself on being a defender of gender equality and women's rights.

Brantigny