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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).

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    The Lannister name would survive through Tywin's siblings and their children; see awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Kevan_Lannister#Family
    – Niall C.
    Feb 3, 2013 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 3, 2013 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 3, 2013 at 16:54
  • not a dupe, but related to scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/19910/…
    – KutuluMike
    Feb 3, 2013 at 20:56
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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, 2013 at 15:52

1 Answer 1

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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.

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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 3, 2013 at 17:00
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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 4, 2013 at 4:39
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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 5, 2013 at 10:45
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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 5, 2013 at 17:34
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    It is Tommen. Only if all of Tywins legitimate descendants are dead does it pass to a sibling.
    – dsas
    Feb 5, 2013 at 23:46

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