I want to know if it is possible to give your child at birth another last name other than either of the parents? I am in New Jersey and just wondering if this is possible.

Thank you

Like a step parent? Or just some random name you make up?

Let me just answer...

You can name your child nearly anything you want.

Except for numerals or symbols, few rules in child-naming - Breaking News From New Jersey - NJ.com (http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/12/except_for_numerals_or_symbols.html)

"New Jersey and some other states forbid names that incorporate obscenities or symbols, or numbers unless they're spelled out, as in "Fifty Cent." Otherwise, anything goes, says a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, which oversees the state registrar, the agency that approves birth certificates.

According to a state administrative code: "The designation of a child's name, including the surname, is the right of the child's parents." "