Ruling of the Gelderland District Court dated October 30, 2020
Requester originally bears the first name Anouk.* Around the age of 10, she began to realize that she was not the person her given name seemed to expect her to be. The name Anouk did not align with her identity.
Requester concluded that she did not feel feminine, although her given name seemed to suggest otherwise. At that time, she wanted a name that better reflected her more masculine personality, so she asked her surroundings to call her ‘Noek.’ She considered this a strong and tough name. She informed her classmates at the time that she wished to be addressed by this name. Apart from a few exceptions, this was quickly accepted, and since then, requester has been going by the name Noek. Her self-chosen nickname provided her with more confidence at the time and reflected her identity.
The majority of people who know requester today are not aware that she has been going by the name Noek since birth. Occasionally, she is asked if this name is an abbreviation of another first name, but she lies about it with great reluctance. Practically speaking, for everyone in her daily life, requester is ‘Noek,’ and even her stepchildren are unaware of anything else.
The reason requester wishes to formalize her self-chosen nickname through a change of first name is that she wants to see her first name, her identity, on official documents. When she obtained her driver’s license later in life, she wanted to show everyone her coveted pink card but couldn’t because it displayed her official first name. Therefore, requester refrained from showing it for the time being. This illustrates the value requester attaches to the name Noek. When she got married, she asked the marriage registrar to address her with this first name. If she hadn’t done that, requester would have postponed her wedding to first effect a change of first name. However, she found it painful that her official first name was on her marriage certificate.
Another example is that since reaching voting age, requester has not missed a single election. She sees this as her democratic duty. However, the name Noek is never on the ballot. Every time requester needs to handle official matters, including filling in important documents, making a copy of her ID card, logging in with DigiD, she is confronted with her official first name. She experiences this as someone she is not; a person who has never existed but continues to follow her like a shadow.
Considering requester’s motivation, the court approves the request.
- Actual first name is fictional.
