The apex court in South Africa has delivered a landmark ruling, which granted men the right to adopt their wives’ surnames and stressed that any law that prevented this amounted to unfair gender discrimination.
The ruling followed a case instituted by two couples, one of which wanted to honour the woman’s parents, who died when she was young.
The other case involved a woman who wanted to retain her maiden name to preserve her family’s surname, as she was an only child.
Delivering judgement on Thursday, September 11, 2025, the Constitutional Court said the legal prohibition served no legitimate government purpose. It, therefore, suspended the law, clearing the road for parliament to enact amendments to the legislation.
The court noted that, while men are at the receiving end of being deprived a right to their wives’ surnames, the discrimination was “far more insidious” for women.
It “reinforces patriarchal gender norms, which prescribe how women may express their identity, and it makes this expression relational to their husband, as a governmental and cultural default,” the court said.
Before the ruling, the law required men to apply to the Home Affairs Department to change their surname, a request that was not automatically granted.
The practice of men assuming their wives’ surnames after marriage has been woven into laws in other countries, particularly in Europe and in certain US states.
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