Names are used to identify and categorise, and hence the power to name is significant. In three recent cases the courts have been faced with disputes over the naming of children (two in the Court of Appeal: Dawson v. Wearmouth [1997] 2 F.L.R. 629; Re P (Parental Responsibility) [1997] 2 F.L.R. 722 and one in the Family Division: Re PC (Change of Surname) [1997] 2 F.L.R. 730). The law following these decisions seems, in outline, to be as follows.