Notification of birth Acceptance Supplementary data delivery

Have you had a child and would like to submit details and proof of birth, first name declaration and name determination to the registry office? Find out more here.

If you have had a child, you must notify the relevant registry office and submit the required documents.
If your child was born in a hospital or birthing center, the birth will be reported to the registry office by these facilities. In the case of a home birth, you will receive a birth certificate, which you must hand in personally at your local registry office.
You must submit further information and documents required for the birth to be certified to the relevant registry office in addition to the birth notification if these cannot be taken from registers to which the registry office has access.

The registry office keeps a register of births in which the following entries are made:

• The child's first names and maiden name
• Place, day, hour and minute of birth
• The sex of the child
• The first names and surnames of the parents, their gender

Choice of the child's first name:
As the custodian, you are free to choose the child's first name; chosen first names must not be contrary to the child's best interests.

Choice of the child's birth name:
If you have a joint married name, the child will be given this as its birth name.
If you as parents do not have a married name and you have joint custody, you can declare to the registry office that the name used by the father or mother at the time of the declaration will be the child's birth name. A declaration made after the birth has been notarized must be officially certified. If you have chosen a birth name for your child, this will also apply to other children.

The custodial parents can decide vis-à-vis the registry office that a child should be given the surname

• according to the law of a country to which one of the parents belongs,
• according to German law, if one parent has their habitual residence in Germany
• according to the law of the country to which a person granting the name belongs.

Please contact the registry office responsible for the child's place of birth.

The following documents must always be presented at the birth of the child:

1. if the parents are married, their marriage certificate or a certified printout from the marriage register and their birth certificates if the registration details of the parents' birth cannot be found on the marriage certificate,
2. if the parents are not married, the mother's birth certificate and, if paternity has already been recognized, the declarations of paternity and the father's birth certificate and, if applicable, the declarations of custody,
3. an identity card, passport or other recognized passport replacement document of the parents and
4. in the case of oral notification, a certificate of birth issued by a doctor, midwife or maternity nurse, provided they were present at the birth.

The registry office may request further documents from you if this is necessary to verify information.

In order for the birth of your child to be registered, the relevant registry office will need information and proof from you.

• Bring the originals of all required documents with you to your visit to the relevant registry office.

The birth of the child must be reported to the relevant registry office within one week. If a child is stillborn, the notification must be made no later than the third working day following the birth.

Parents with joint custody who do not have a married name must notify the competent registry office of the child's birth name within one month of the child's birth. If no notification is made within this period, this will be forwarded to the family court.

The child's first names must be notified within one month.

Processing may take a few days.

There are no fees.