Do orphans have last names?

Question

I mean... they don't have any parents to have a last name, but yet they had to come from someone!

Do orphans have last names??

Just wonderin'!

Answer 1

Yes, whether it was given to them by their mother or not, but they aren't allowed to keep it after they're adopted. The adopting parent "changes" their name, the children are not given a choice unless they are older and are included in the decision.

Answer 2

Somebody back the turnip truck up, we lost one.

Answer 3

I was orphaned by the deaths of my parents when I was only 6 mths old and I went by my fathers last name/my mothers married name

Answer 4

if a person or people gave a baby to an orphanage these peop would have a last name so the bab would too

orphanages have records

hosp have records

gov'ts have records

peopl have records & memories

Answer 5

Yes, their birth mother's last name.

Then when they get adopted they usually take the name of the adopted family

Answer 6

yes, they do. It would be the last name as stated by their biological parents on the birth certificate. If they were simply found as a baby, they have the last name of "Doe" or "Smith" listed until they are legally adopted by a family.

Answer 7

Why, yes they do dopey.  

They were really born and didn't drop in from outer space.

Although in the olden days if a child was born illegitimate (parents unmarried) the child would be known only by his first name.

Answer 8

Maybe go back to the orphanage and see if they will release the papers. I think you have to be 18 yrs. old to do that.

Answer 9

Dear Shay-Lynn,

Yes, orphans have last names. Sometime it is the last name of their first mother or father and sometimes they are assigned a name by a Judge or Orphanage or Hospital Staff.

Names DO NOT have to be changed at adoption, but adoptive parents ARE given the OPTION to do so.

Lastly, to the poster who said Little Orphan Annie didn't have a last name - yes she did. It was Smudge.

ETA: I thought you sounded very legitimate and I don't think this was a stupid question - how would you know if you weren't involved in this stuff!? Thanks for bothering to ask. Too many people just assume things -especially when it comes to adoption!

Answer 10

I am adopted and when I was in Foster Care, I was given the last name of my supposed birth father...

Answer 11

ummm lets see..YEAH...the orpan had to have parents therefor it had to have a last name

Answer 12

Yep, I came with ID tags too !!!

Ohhh.,.... guess what, I have my own first name too !!!

Just becaue my parents dies doesn't mean they didn't name me.

I have a name...  it's my name.

Answer 13

My relative was an orphan on the Orphan Train in the 20s.  The caregivers would just make up a name.  Sometimes the name was based on a 'guess' of ethnicity, sometimes just whatever popped into their heads. He happened to arrive in a basket with a first name, and the note was written in German, so they just supplied a German surname.  It was changed later on once he was adopted.

There are orphans today that have no identity (yes, even in the US) and the nurses come up with a name.  A surname is approved by a judge.  The child has this identification until adopted. That's what they do when a baby is abandoned in a Safe Haven as well as those abandoned at hospitals where the mom lied about her identity and just walked off.

Answer 14

naw, its backwards with orphans,,, they have first names but no last name,  i.e little orphan annie ,, ,

Answer 15

Of cores thy do, and when they are adopted.  They take the adopted parents last name.

Answer 16

In China children in orphanages are sometimes given the same last name as the town in which the orphanage is. Such as those in the city of Yulin are given the last name Lin.

BTW your question isn't stupid. Some here seem to forget some children are simply abandoned and never named at all by their birth parents. They especially don't have papers with the name on it.

Answer 17

Of course.

"Orphans" have personal histories, too.

They just aren't allowed to acknowledge them after they're adopted.

P.S. real orphans have deceased parents

Answer 18

Yes they do. If the birthmother's last name is known, then that's what they use, but if no family name is known, like when a child is abandoned, a last name is usually chosen by a social worker or orphanage worker.

Answer 19

yes im pretty sure they do?and if they want they can change their lastname to the adoptive families name

Answer 20

That is a brilliant point, u know 1 of those things you only realy think about when sum1 mentions it

Answer 21

An orphan is a child whose  parents have died.

This can be at any time during their youth.

The birth  certificate would be the same as anyone else's.

I would think that even if a father died before the child's birth it wouldn't make any difference.

Why would it?