Naming rights

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

• as a result of marriage or formation of a civil partnership,
• after adoption as a child,
• after subsequent establishment of joint parental authority or extension of the parental name change to children,
• after being named into a further marriage of a parent with custody,
• as a result of further declarations under name law (e.g. after dissolution of marriage).

The private law regulations on marriage, the determination of the paternity of a child, the use of the names of spouses and children, custody and adoption are regulated in the Civil Code.

There are special regulations for expellees, ethnic German repatriates and certain groups of persons, such as naturalized persons, who acquired their name under foreign law, but are now subject to German law in this respect. They can adapt their names linguistically to the German environment by means of a so-called declaration of approximation.

If the wish to use a particular name cannot be taken into account under the provisions of civil law, there is also the possibility of a name change under public law under the Act on the Change of Surnames and First Names.

This procedure for changing the name is exceptional in so far as it serves only to eliminate inconveniences in individual cases and thus to avoid particular hardship. The law can be applied to Germans and to stateless persons, homeless foreigners, foreign refugees and persons entitled to asylum who have their residence in the Federal Republic of Germany.

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

Information on civil name declarations and declarations of approximation can be obtained from the registry offices; the declarations can also be received there.

The district committees of the districts or the magistrates of the district-free cities are responsible for changes of name under public law; in municipalities with more than 7 500 inhabitants, only first name changes are made.

In order to find the responsible office for your town, please enter your municipality name in the upper location search field.

The fee for a declaration of name rights at the registry office is 21.00 euros. For a change of name under public law, there are so-called "framework fees", which are between 28.00 euros and 560.00 euros for the change of a first name, and between 28.00 euros and 1,680.00 euros for a family name.