"May d'Atlas"? *eyes*
May Devon d’Atlas née Marigold was formerly the eldest child of Victor Marigold and Agatha Royce. The name that she currently bears, d’Atlas, was assigned to her when she lost the legal right to her former surname, through a process known as élagage, or the Law of Disownment.
I haven’t had a chance to talk about the Kingdom of Atlas, other than a few offhand mentions here and there. Calling Atlesian culture intense oversimplifies things to a pretty extreme degree, but it’s an accurate way of looking at it. Disownment (or pruning, as it’s sometimes called) is an archaic law that’s a holdover from before the Great War, in which the heads of a family can formally remove a member from their house. The individual subjected to this process is no longer recognized by their old surname in the eyes of the government, and is instead given the toponymic appellation d’Atlas, or of Atlas. The individual has their claim to their inheritance revoked, along with any titles they previously held within the family.
In centuries past, élagage could also include exile and expulsion from the community. While that’s no longer the case today, the social and economic backlash for those who face disownment can still be severe.
May was formally disowned after her family discovered that she was trans, back when she was a student at Atlas Academy. None of her extended family (with a few notable exceptions) speak to her, let alone acknowledge her existence. It’s considered taboo to do so. If someone were to press May’s parents about the subject, they would quietly yet firmly reply, “Our son died years ago.”
As far as some Atlesians are concerned, anyone that’s been legally disowned is pretty much dead to them.
There’s been talk of repealing the law, but it’s never gotten anywhere past the discussion stage. Many of Atlas’ old families—who often hold political clout, either through wealth or nepotism—have intervened in the past to prevent it from happening. Despite disownments being relatively uncommon nowadays, certain Atlesian families insist on the practice remaining legal, usually under the claim of “preserving their cultural heritage.”
Disownment can only be initiated when the intended recipient is still alive. It’s illegal to posthumously strip a person of their name. Otherwise, Watts’ family would have done it years ago.