What surname is given to a baby whose parents are unknown?

[THEY STOLE MY FORESKIN]

I was wondering this, imagine a baby is left in a hatch in a church without being given a name by their parents and this baby grows without ever being adopted, virtually being raised parentless. Obviously the name will be given by the nun who receives the baby, but what will their surname be?

 

[Grub]

Apparently it varies by country

How do orphanages give abandoned children last names?

Answer (1 of 7): For children in the US foster care system who are abandoned without any info, it’s Baby Boy/Girl or John/Jane Doe. That’s what happens with safe haven babies, where they get left somewhere, and the parents are unknown. I honestly don’t know how they decide on the first name since...

www.quora.com

 

[Lucky Jim]

A French Cardinal has a last name meaning 23: Wikipedia explains:

André Vingt-Trois was born in Paris, France, to Armand Vingt-Trois and Paulette (née Vuillamy). His surname, which is French for "twenty-three", is probably from an ancestor who, as a child or baby, was abandoned and found on the 23rd day of the month.

 

[Alex Hogendorp]

Rothschild

 

[MediocreMilt]

Well, if they're born in the North, you call them "Snow", "Rivers" if they're from the riverlands, and "Sand" if they're from the desert.

 

[A Very Big Fish]

A French Cardinal has a last name meaning 23: Wikipedia explains:

In Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quasimodo gets his name because he was found on Quasimodo Sunday.

 

[THEY STOLE MY FORESKIN]

Apparently it varies by country

How do orphanages give abandoned children last names?

Answer (1 of 7): For children in the US foster care system who are abandoned without any info, it’s Baby Boy/Girl or John/Jane Doe. That’s what happens with safe haven babies, where they get left somewhere, and the parents are unknown. I honestly don’t know how they decide on the first name since...

www.quora.com

Thank you very much! I'll look further into how different countries do it because I found it very interesting.