The director-general of the Civil Registry of Paraguay, Maxi Ayala, clarified that the country's legislation allows children to take the mother's surname first, provided there is agreement between both parents at the time of registration. In a video posted on social media, Ayala stated: “The child can take the mother's surname as the first and the father's as the second.”
According to Ayala, once the order is set for the first child, it must be maintained for all siblings. If there is no consensus, the law determines that the child receives the father's surname first. The explanation came after repeated inquiries from the public about the possibility of reversing the traditional order of surnames, a practice that has gained debate in several countries in the region in recent years.
In January of this year, a case gained attention: the courts authorized an 18-year-old young man, a resident of Hernandarias in the department of Alto Paraná, to drop his father's surname due to abandonment since his first year of life. The young man, born in February 2007 and originally registered with both surnames, requested to carry only his mother's surname.
Public defender Rodrigo Ayala González, who assisted the young man, argued that the request was based on the right to a name and surname as an expression of personal identity and protection of image, according to Article 25 of the National Constitution. During the process, evidence of the father's absence was presented, such as photographs, proof of school payments made only by the mother, and criminal and police background certificates attesting to the young man's good conduct.
The First Instance Court of Hernandarias accepted the action and ordered that the young man use exclusively his mother's surname in all personal documents. The decision also ordered the rectification of the birth certificate at the Civil Registry and communication to the Identification Department of the National Police.