Give your baby a combined surname? Traditionally, the father's family name is the first choice for a Chinese kid's surname, although the use of the mother's name is not uncommon. But babies could soon have a surname combining the parents' family names. So, if a father's family name is Zhou, and the mother, Zhu, the baby could have four options for the surname: Zhou, Zhu, Zhouzhu or Zhuzhou. A regulation on name registration drafted by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) allows a baby to have the combined surname. The ministry said it had distributed the draft to police departments across the country for comments. The Marriage Law stipulates that a newborn can have the surname of either the father or the mother, but does not mention a combined surname. A nationwide survey released by the MPS in April shows that about 85 percent of the Chinese share only 100 surnames, with Wang being the most popular. There are 93 million Wangs in China, followed closely by 92 million with the family name Li and 88 million called Zhang. The Chinese Academy of Sciences has reported that at least 100,000 people share the name of "Wang Tao", making it the most popular. Such names cause great trouble in daily life; and the new regulation can vastly reduce name repetition , said a household registration officer with the Beijing public security bureau. Du Ruofu, a researcher on Chinese surnames who retired from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said combined surnames are becoming popular with young, modern couples, though they are not strictly permitted by law. He said including the mother's surname also shows gender equality and a clear stipulation would promote the trend. Seven of the 10 people China Daily randomly surveyed said they welcome such a change, with the rest against it. 點擊查看更多雙語新聞 (China Daily)

從我國傳統來看，孩子一般隨爸爸姓，盡管也不乏跟媽媽姓的情況。 但孩子們很快就能擁有結合父母雙姓的姓氏了。 如果爸爸姓周，媽媽姓朱，那么孩子的姓可以有四種選擇：周、朱、周朱或朱周。 根據公安部日前起草的姓名登記條例，子女可以用父母雙姓起名。 公安部表示，這一條例已下發至全國各級公安機關供研究討論。 《婚姻法》規定，子女可以隨父姓，也可隨母姓，但沒有提到可以用父母雙姓。 公安部四月公布的一項全國性調查顯示，約85%的中國人共有僅100個姓，“王”姓為第一大姓。 我國姓王的人數達到9300萬，“李”姓和“張”姓緊隨其后，分別為9200萬和8800萬。 據中科院統計，全國至少有10萬人叫“王濤”，使之成為用得最多的名字。 北京市公安局戶籍登記科的一位警官說，這樣的名字在日常生活中造成了很大的麻煩；這一新規定可以大大減少重名的情況。 中科院已退休的中國姓氏研究員杜若甫說，給子女起名用組合姓在年輕、時髦的夫婦中越來越普遍，雖然這在法律上沒有明確被允許。 他說，把母親的姓加進來也是男女平等的一種體現，有了明文規定將推動這一趨勢的發展。 《中國日報》的一項隨機調查顯示，70%的人對這一改革表示贊同，其余的人則持相反態度。 （英語點津姍姍編輯）