patriline

Patriline, or patrilineage, refers to a system of tracing kinship and social affiliation through the male line. In anthropology, patrilineal descent is a form of unilineal descent in which a person’s membership in a lineage, clan, or house is transmitted from father to son, to his son, and so on, linking individuals to a common male ancestor. It contrasts with matrilineal descent, where affiliation is traced through the mother, and with bilateral or cognatic systems that consider both parental lines.

In patrilineal systems, membership, inheritance, and often collective identity are tied to the paternal line. Property, titles, and sometimes clan names or surnames are passed from fathers to sons. The pattern can influence social organization, including residence practices (such as patrilocal residence, where a wife joins the husband’s household) and the transmission of authority or leadership within a lineage or clan. While patrilineality emphasizes the male line, it does not alone determine gender roles or political power, which can vary widely between cultures.

Patrilineality has occurred in many regions and historical periods. It is commonly found in various East Asian, European, African, and Indigenous social formations, though exact practices differ by community. Modern populations may maintain patrilineal descent in genealogical records and naming conventions even as other kinship practices change.

Limitations and variation exist. Descent can be more complex than a single pattern; ambilineal, bilineal, or double-descent arrangements may combine elements of patrilineal and matrilineal principles, and some societies exhibit deviations in practice from formal rules.