The Patrilineal reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Patrilineal

Related through or descending from or through the male line or father (from the Latin pater, meaning "father.") Most surnames are patrilineal, for example: children are given their father's surname; not their mother's.

This is the "Patrilineal" reference article from the English Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.