Matronymic

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A matronymic is a personal name based on the name of one's mother, grandmother, or any female ancestor. It is the female equivalent of a patronymic. In patriarchal societies, matronymic surnames are far less common than patronyms. In the past, matronymic last names were often given to children of unwed mothers. Other times when a woman was especially well known or powerful, her descendants would adopt a matronym based on her name. Today some have chosen to adopt matronymic last names, such as the poet Yocheved Bat-Miriam (note, however, that this is not a 'true' matronymic name, i.e., she did not name herself after her biological mother, but after Mariam, the sister of Moses, who was a poet, using the Hebrew matronymic structure).

Most charcters in the Bible are refered to with a patronymic. However, Abishai, Joab, and Asahel - the sons of Zeruiah, sister or step-sister of King David - are invariably refered to as "Sons of Zeruiah" and the name of their father remains unknown. Also the Biblical Judge Shamgar is refered to with the matronymic "Son of Anat".

English matronyms were frequently given for reasons other than illegitimacy. It was traditional for posthumous children to be given a matronym during the Middle Ages, and it was not unheard of for children to be given a matronym if the father's name was foreign, difficult to pronounce, or had an unfortunate meaning. A child of a strong-minded woman might also take a matronym, as might a child whose name would otherwise be confused with that of a cousin or neighbour. Common English matronyms include Beaton, Custer, Tiffany, Parnell, Hilliard, Marriott, Ibbetson, Babbs, and Megson.^[1]

Family names derived from matronyms are also found in Romania, especially in the region of Moldavia. Examples include: Aioanei, Ababei, Acatrinei, Ailincăi.

Some Icelandic people, like Heiðar Helguson, have matronyms. (See Icelandic name.)

Matronymics also appear in medieval Irish and Welsh tales such as Cath Maige Tuired and the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi (the children of Dôn).

Filipinos take their mother's maiden name as their middle name; this is also the usual practice in Brazil. Some Vietnamese names also function this way, not as a "tradition" of sorts, but as a style or trend, in which the mother's maiden name is the middle name of the child.

In the old Finnish system, women were standardly given matronyms, while men were given patronyms. (Since the 19th century the system of inherited family names has been used, however, and today nearly all Finlanders have inherited surnames.)

The Minangkabau of Indonesia are the largest group of people who use this naming system.

An example of an Arabic matronymic is the name of Jesus in the Qur’an, ‘Īsá ibn Maryam, which means Jesus the son of Mary. The book Kitāb man nusiba ilá ummihi min al-shu‘arā’ (The book of poets who are named with the lineage of their mothers) by the 9th-century author Muḥammad ibn Ḥabīb is a study of the matronymics of Arabic poets.^[2] There exist other examples of matronymics in historical Arabic names.^[3]

There are indications of a Jewish history of matronymic names. ^[4]

The Scots use the suffix -ina to indicate matronymic names, e.g. Intireina would be the equivalent for the patronymic McIntire.^[5]

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