I believe you meant SURNAME.
In most African traditions,there is no surname!!! People are identified by their father's name...and when that is not known,then they can be identified by their mother's name.....do you remember Kuria wa Gathoni?
Now,this child that you refer to; her father is known,isn't he? Indeed,I suspect that his name appears on her birth certificate!!
In that case,there is no need of trying to drive a wedge between father and daughter...just because mother and father can't stand one another.
So advise your friend to simply give the daughter her rightful surname....the name of the father...
When the girl gets married,she can choose to either drop the father's name,or include it in a new 'double-barrel' surname......or even as a middle name
Nothing is real unless it can be named; nothing has value unless it can be sold; money is worthless unless you spend it.