Matrilineality

Matrilineality is the tracing of lineage – as well as which can involve a descent system, an individual is considered to belong to the same descent group as their mother. This ancient matrilineal descent sample is in contrast to the currently more popular sample of patrilineal descent from which a family name is normally derived. The matriline of historical nobility was also called their enatic or uterine ancestry, corresponding to the patrilineal or "agnatic" ancestry.

Matrilineal surname

Matrilineal surnames are names pointed from mother to daughter, in contrast to the more familiar patrilineal surnames allocated from father to son, the pattern nearly common among family names today. For clarity & for brevity, the scientific terms patrilineal surname and matrilineal surname are commonly abbreviated as patriname and matriname.