Heigardian naming customs

In Heigard and its former colonial territories, people tipically have from one to three forenames and and two surnames, the first inherited from the father and the second from the mother. When referring to people it is common to use any of its three forenames and the first surname, but this is not a rule rigidly applied.

Naming system in Heigard
In Heigard, people usually have two surnames and up to three given names. The concept of middle name as known in English-speaking countries doesn't exist in Heigard. Thus Reginald François Charles Millerand Gerard is Monsieur Millerand ("Mr. Millerand" in English; "Herr Millerand" in German), not Monsieur Gerard, and "Millerand" is not a middle name. His friends would call him either Reginald and (less often) François or Charles.

Legally and traditionally the first surname is the father's first surname (paternal surname), the second the mother's first surname (maternal surname).

First names
In Heigard first names are chosen by the parents and must be registered at the National Registre (Civil Register). Traditionally it was the child's godfather (or the godmather if the child was a woman) the one to choose the baby's name, and when being baptised, the priest would ask the godfather for a name for the child. However, Heigard has become greatly secularised, with a considerable decrease in the number of children being baptised, and even between those that still are, it is increansingly rare not to be the parents the ones to name the child. Moreover, it is compulsory to register the child at the aforementined civil register.

Parents can choose any names they wish, with few restrictions. Sometimes a name is chosen to honour a living or dead relative. The most common source of names is the nomina of Catholic saints.

In the Heigardian Constitution of 1911 is stated that inmigrants may keep their original forenames (whichever language they are) or translate them to the closest equivalent, if the wish so.

Names registered
The official National Registre records a the three forenames (also known as one composite forename), plus two family names per person. There extremely rare cases where people named their children with more than four forenames, and has no legal validity.

Maiden names
In Heigard, women change their surnames when they marry. Women may be known by their husband's name and their first surname, or their surname with the addition of "zu" and their husband's first surname. Thus when Heinrich Hainaut Varteaux marries Lorraine Gernois Barlow she may choose to be known by her maiden name, or as Madame Gernois zu Hainaut, or Madame Hainaut. It is quite normal to speak of Monsieur Heinrich Hainaut and his wife Lorraine Gernois. However, in modern times most of Heigardian women use their husbands' surname instead of their maiden surnames, but legally a woman name when married should be like this: Lorraine Mary Isabelle Gernois Barlow zu Hainaut.

Transmision of surnames
The trasmission of surnames is equal for women and men. For example: if Audrey Marzilliger Opperdech and Richard Noringia have a daughter named Gerlinde and a son named Phillip they will normally be named Gerlinde Noringia Merzilliger and Phillip Norngia Merzilliger.

As the paternal surname comes first, it means that the surnames of the female branch get lost as generations pass.

While Heigard has recently introduced legal provisions to allow parents to freely decide the order of surnames, the overwhelming majority of Heigardians continue to follow the traditional pattern of father's first and mother's second. Traditionally, the person is usually commonly known by his/her first name and father's last name only.

In Heigard, if the father is either unknown or does not want to recognize his child, the newborn will take both surnames of the mother. Thus, if Mary Karau Fahrerstoun has a child by an unknown father, and she wants to name her son Ludwig, he will be called Ludwig Karau Fahrerstoun. A common insult is to say "...yes, but I have two surnames." implying that the contender does not, meaning that he is a bastard.

Not every surname is a single word. A particularly felicitious or renowned combination of paternal and maternal surnames may propagate to the following generation as a double paternal surname, especially when the paternal surname alone would be considered "undistinguished". In these cases, the first surnames of the parents are merged and the second surname of either the father or the mother is used as maternal surname: (i.e. Mark Ludolfing Warstad and Regina Castell Maribainée have a son named Joseph. They want to combine their surnames, so their son would be called Joseph Ludolfing-Castell Warstad or Joseph Ludolfing-Castell Maribainée'').

Surnames in Nobility
In Heigard, royalty and nobility use their Royal House name (if abviable) as their surname using the particle "von" (of), and if a child descends from two Royal Houses, "und" (and) must be used between the two surnames. For example, King Heinrich VI of the House of Kleüm married Isabella of Braubgallie, of the House of Gerthburg-Paxony. They have a son named Reginald Richard Joseph. Therefore, the child is legally named Reginald Richard Joseph von Kleüm und Gerthburg-Paxony.