The number of infants in Belgium who were given their mother’s surname has grown in comparison to last year’s figures.
A total of 5,773 Belgian newborns took the maternal surname in 2018, accounting for 5.86 percent of the 98,547 births declared
In 2017, this concerned only 4.25 percent of infants, or just over 4,000 out of the 101,071 declared newborns, according to media reports.
Belgian parents are free to decide which surname their children will carry since 2008, after the option to give newborns the paternal or maternal surname, or a combination of the two, was approved by law.
The figures show that the choice to give babies their father’s surname still remains the most popular, as nine out of ten newborns were given their father’s last name.
Additionally, the figures show that 6 percent of babies were given a combination of both parents’ names.
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