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For example with King Joffrey, he is (I know, I know he really isn't) the descendant of Houses Baratheon and Lannister, so because of that which last name is he passing to his children?

In my country we have two last names, the one of the father and the one of the mother. So my name is Name last1 last2 and I only pass my first last name to my children, so for example my wife's name is Mom_Name Mom_last1 Mom_last2 and my children they all will have Child_Name last1 Mom_last1, so only the House of the father is passing through time.

Maybe it is different in your countries, that's why I wanted to explain that.

I understand if the last name they pass may be the one with more importance, but it should be a rule, because if not the great name of House Lannister could be lost (Jaime can't have children and Tyrion is not welcome in the family).

Beofett
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eLRuLL
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    The Lannister name would survive through Tywin's siblings and their children; see http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Kevan_Lannister#Family – Niall C. Feb 03 '13 at 16:32
  • Yeah, but i don't think Tywin would be very happy about it, and also it won't be the main family. – eLRuLL Feb 03 '13 at 16:36
  • Westeros is enough like Britain that Joffrey could use a double-barrelled surname, Baratheon-Lannister. (Of course, he could use Lannister-Lannister and be more accurate.) – sjl Feb 03 '13 at 16:54
  • not a dupe, but related to http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/19910/why-is-cersei-commonly-referred-to-as-cersei-lannister-instead-of-cersei-bara?rq=1 – KutuluMike Feb 03 '13 at 20:56
  • @sjl But we don't see any double-barrelled names in practice in Westeros. It works more like in the Middle Ages, not modern Britain. – Andres F. Feb 20 '13 at 15:47
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    It is clear from the books that children get their father's family name (or one of the bastard surnames, barring that). The "great" House Lannister conceded that the surname wasn't important the minute they decided to make no overt bid for the Throne, and chose to manipulate House Baratheon instead. This is one minor disadvantage of ruling from the shadows. – Andres F. Feb 20 '13 at 15:52

1 Answers1

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In the US and much (but not all) of Western Europe, the father's family name is passed on to the children. This is a tradition going back centuries and is (at least where I live) the "expected" thing to do.

So, just as Robb Stark is not a Tully (his mother's family name) Joffrey should legally be a Baratheon, not a Lannister.

In terms of inheritance, Jaime should be first in line, followed by Tyrion. I'm not sure where Cersei stands, since I don't know whether women can inherit. If she can't, I would expect the lands/money/what have you to pass to her children even though they are not Lannisters since they are descended from them. Just as the Iron throne went to Joffrey rather than Stannis or Renly, offspring seem to take precedence over siblings in this political system.

Adele- Nexus of Potlucks
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  • so, for example who will get the heritage of Tywin Lannister, lands, gold, etc., if they should always go to a Lannister? – eLRuLL Feb 03 '13 at 17:00
  • Edited to answer your question. – Adele- Nexus of Potlucks Feb 03 '13 at 17:07
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    In Westeros, a female only inherits if there are no other males inheritors on her same level. So if both Jaime and Tyrion cannot inherit, then Cersie inherits. If for any reason Cersie cannot inherit, the inheritance goes to the closes male relative, and so on. – System Down Feb 04 '13 at 04:39
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    Jaime dropped out of succession when he became a Kings Guard - that's for life. Tyrion is the only legal successor. But it will be interesting to see who will back his claim... – Martin Schröder Feb 05 '13 at 10:45
  • @SystemDown: So who would be the next heir after ADWD without Cersei and Tyrion? – Martin Schröder Feb 05 '13 at 10:46
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    @MartinSchröder - If all of Tywin's children are out of the picture, I presume the heir will either be Kevan's boy (forgot his name at the moment) or Tommen, but I'm unsure who takes precedence. – System Down Feb 05 '13 at 17:34
  • @SystemDown: But Tommen's father was King Robert. :-) – Martin Schröder Feb 05 '13 at 17:35
  • @MartinSchröder - Yeah, but his mother (which we are completely certain of) is Cersei. So he could inherit through his maternal line. I'm just not sure if that precedes Uncle Kevan's male progeny. – System Down Feb 05 '13 at 18:58
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    It is Tommen. Only if all of Tywins legitimate descendants are dead does it pass to a sibling. – dsas Feb 05 '13 at 23:46
  • +1 This. No need to speculate at all; we know in Westeros children get their father's family name, or if bastards, one of generic surnames such as Snow, Sands, etc. Comparisons to the real world are unwarranted, since the author already provides the answer in-universe. – Andres F. Feb 20 '13 at 15:49