Pennsylvania Code
Title 28 - HEALTH AND SAFETY
Part I - General Health
Chapter 1 - ADMINISTRATION OF VITAL RECORDS
RECORDS OF BIRTH
Section 1.7 - Registration of children born in wedlock

(a) The designation of a child's name, including surname, is the right of the child's parents. Thus, a child's surname as recorded on its birth certificate may be the surname of either or both of the child's parents, a surname formed by combining the surname of the parents in hyphenated or other form, or a name which bears no relationship to the surname of either parent.

(b) If the parents are divorced or separated at the time of the child's birth, the choice of surname rests with the parent who has custody of the newborn child.