Right to a name

In the Federal Republic of Germany, a person's name is assessed according to the private law provisions of the German Civil Code. According to this, name changes of a family law nature are essentially considered:

• as a result of marriage or the establishment of a civil partnership,
• after adoption as a child,
• after subsequent establishment of joint parental custody or extension of the parental name change to children,
• after being named in another marriage of a custodial parent,
• as a result of further name-related declarations (e.g. after dissolution of marriage).

The civil law regulations on marriage, establishing the parentage of a child, the naming of spouses and children, custody and adoption are governed by the German Civil Code.

There are special regulations for displaced persons, ethnic German repatriates and certain groups of people, such as naturalised citizens, who acquired their name under foreign law but are now subject to German law. They can linguistically adapt their names to the German environment by means of a so-called declaration of harmonisation.

If the wish to use a particular name cannot be honoured under the provisions of civil law, there is also the option of changing the name under public law in accordance with the Act on the Change of Surnames and First Names.

This name change procedure is exceptional in that it only serves to eliminate inconveniences in individual cases and thus avoid particular hardship. The law can be applied to Germans and stateless persons, homeless foreigners, foreign refugees and persons entitled to asylum who are resident in the Federal Republic of Germany.

A change of first name or surname is only possible if there is an important reason, e.g. the previous name is offensive, seems ridiculous or is the cause of frequent confusion.