<Li> married people or widows--by adding or substituting the name of their spouse . Substituting the name of the husband is an established custom but has never been enshrined in law . For example, social security laws require the wife and husband to provide the "maiden name" or birth name . This right also applies to divorced couples provided that the ex-spouse does not object and the other has a legitimate interest, such as because they have the custody of the couple's children . </Li> <P> Since Law No. 2003 - 516 of 18 June 2003 on the devolution of family names, there is no longer any distinction between the name of the mother and the father . A child may receive the family name of one or the other, or both family names . Decree No. 2004 - 1159 of 29 October 2004 implemented Law No. 2002 - 304 of 4 March 2002, provided that children born on or after 1 January 2004 and children changing names, may have or use only the family name of the father or the mother or both family names . However, whichever form is used, a person's name must be used consistently on all identification documents, such as a passport or identity card . </P> <P> The ratio of the number of family names to the population is high in France, due to the fact that most surnames had many orthographic and dialectal variants (more than 40 for some) which were registered as separate names around 1880 when "family vital records booklets" were issued . According to the French Institute for Statistics INSEE, more than 1,300,000 surnames were registered in the country between 1891 and 1990, and about 200,000 disappeared meanwhile (mainly orthographic variants). It is believed that the number of family names at any time since 1990 hovers between 800,000 and 1,200,000 . Not all family names are of French origin, as many families have some immigrant roots . According to different estimations, 50 to 80 percent of French citizens would be the bearers of rare family names (fewer than 50 bearers alive at the census time). </P> <P> The list for France is different according to the sources: another list including the births between 1891 and 1990 shows: 1 - Martin, 2 - Bernard, 3 - Thomas, 4 - Petit, 5 - Robert, 6 - Richard, 7 - Durand, 8 - Dubois, 9 - Moreau, 10 - Laurent . A more current list of birth between 1966 and 1990 gives 1 - Martin, 2 - Bernard, 3 - Thomas, 4 - Robert, 5 - Petit, 6 - Dubois, 7 - Richard, 8 - Garcia (Spanish), 9 - Durand, 10 - Moreau . </P>

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