Italian children will no longer automatically be given their father's surname at birth.
This was decided by the Constitutional Court in Rome in a judgment announced on Wednesday.
Until now, it was mandatory in the Mediterranean country for a newborn to be given the father's surname if the father recognized the child at birth.
Upon joint application, the mother's surname could be specified as part of a double surname, but it was placed after the father's.
In Italy, women keep their surnames even after marriage - this means that Italian mothers have had different surnames from their children in most cases so far.
According to the court, this legal norm violates articles of the Italian constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
In the future, parents must be able to decide freely whether to give their children their father's surname, their mother's surname or a double name, the judges ruled and called on politicians to take action.
A draft law for this is already in parliament.
It states that if the parents do not expressly specify a surname in the future, the child will automatically be given a double name – and not the father's name, as was previously the case.
Supporters of the change in the law spoke of a "historic judgment", a "small revolution" and a further step towards equality between men and women.
In Germany, parents who have joint custody and who have different surnames are free to decide whether their child is given the surname of the mother or father.