Editing Bastardy (section)

==Surnames==
[[File:Heliotropa Mya Stone.jpg|thumb|[[Mya Stone]] by Heliotropa © 2012]]
Bastards in the [[Seven Kingdoms]] can receive regional surnames by [[customs|custom]], not law. Bastards with a high-born parent are given these surnames to hold them apart from their parent's houses.<ref name=SF>[http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/2999/ SF, Targaryens, Valyria, Sansa, Martells, and more (June 26, 2001)]</ref> Some parents of bastard children may also have a secondary reason for bestowing a regional surname on their child, such as with [[Jon Waters]], whose family lore held that his mother [[Elaena Targaryen]] gave him the name Waters in honor of his father, the famed admiral [[Alyn Velaryon]].{{Ref|AFFC|8}} The parents may give a bastard a different surname if they wish, e.g. [[Tyrion Tanner]],{{Ref|ADWD|Appendix}} or no name at all. Bastard children of two people of the [[smallfolk]] are not given a distinctive surname.<ref name=SF/> A bastard might also chose a surname for himself. [[Daemon Waters]] took the surname [[House Blackfyre|Blackfyre]] at the age of twelve, after having been knighted and having received lands and the [[Valyrian steel]] sword [[Blackfyre|of the same name]] from his father, King [[Aegon IV Targaryen]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Aegon IV}} Similarly, [[Ulf White]] and [[Hugh Hammer]] took the surnames White and Hammer after becoming [[dragonrider]]s and raised to nobility during the [[Dance of the Dragons]].{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant}}

The surname a bastard received appears to be connected to the location the child is raised, though this is not a consistent rule. Because of this, bastards who are half-siblings might have different surnames. For example, King [[Robert I Baratheon]]'s eldest bastard, born and raised in the Vale, is called [[Mya Stone|Mya ''Stone'']], while his bastard from the stormlands (fathered on a noblewoman from the [[Reach]]) is called [[Edric Storm|Edric ''Storm'']]. However, whilst [[Aegor Rivers]] was raised at [[Stone Hedge]] in the [[riverlands]], his half-brother [[Brynden Rivers|Brynden]] was also called ''Rivers'', despite having lived at least the first few years of his life with his mother at [[King's Landing]] in the [[crownlands]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Aegon IV}} Prince [[Oberyn Martell]]'s eight bastard daughters all have the surname ''Sand'', even though the eldest, [[Obara Sand|Obara]], lived in [[Oldtown]] in the [[Reach]] during the earlier years of her life,{{Ref|AFFC|2}} and her sister [[Nymeria|Nymeria]] was born in [[Volantis]], across the [[narrow sea]].{{Ref|AWOIAF|Nymeria Sand}} As the [[crownlands]] are the youngest region in the realm, it is unclear when "Waters" became the common surname for bastards from [[Blackwater Bay]]:{{ref|AFFC|8}} the earliest mention is from {{Date|74}}, applied to some of the children of Ser [[Lucamore Strong]], a shamed knight of the [[Kingsguard]].{{Ref|FAB|The Long Reign - Jaehaerys and Alysanne: Policy, Progeny, and Pain}}

Most legitimate offspring of a bastard decides to keep the bastard surname.<ref name=SF/> If two bastards from two different regions (i.e. with two different surnames) marry, the children will most likely take their father's surname.<ref>[[So Spake Martin]]: [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Bastards_Offspring Bastard's Offspring (January 20, 1999)]</ref> Some later legitimate offspring of bastards might change their surname to demonstrate their legitimate nature, and remove the bastard-born taint.<ref name=SF/> One such an example is the son of [[Jon Waters]]. Jon was the bastard son of Princess [[Elaena Targaryen]] and Lord [[Alyn Velaryon]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Baelor I}}{{Ref|AFFC|8}} Jon's trueborn son changed his name from ''"Waters"'' to ''"[[House Longwaters|Longwaters]]"'' in an attempt to remove the taint of bastardy,{{Ref|AFFC|8}} and to demonstrate he was of legitimate birth himself.<ref name=SF/>

{| class="wikitable" width=50%i
|-
! Region
! Surname
! Example 
|-
| [[Blackwater Bay]] ([[Crownlands]]) || Waters{{Ref|AFFC|8}}{{Ref|AFFC|12}} || [[Aurane Waters]]
|-
| [[Dorne]] || Sand{{Ref|ASOS|38}} || [[Ellaria Sand]]
|-
| [[Iron Islands]] || Pyke{{Ref|AGOT|19}}{{Ref|ASOS|70}} || [[Cotter Pyke]]
|-
| [[North]] || Snow{{Ref|AGOT|2}}{{Ref|AGOT|34}} || [[Jon Snow]]
|-
| [[Reach]] || Flowers{{Ref|AGOT|34}} || [[Falia Flowers]]
|-
| [[Riverlands]] || Rivers{{Ref|AGOT|59}} || [[Walder Rivers]]
|-
| [[Stormlands]] || Storm{{Ref|ACOK|10}} || [[Rolland Storm]] 
|-
| [[Vale of Arryn]] || Stone{{Ref|AGOT|34}} || [[Mya Stone]]
|-
| [[Westerlands]] || Hill{{Ref|ASOS|Prologue}} || [[Joy Hill]]
|}