Judgment of the Central Netherlands District Court dated August 26, 2020

The petitioner has a male first name and a female second name. At the time of the petitioner’s birth, it was unclear to her parents whether she was male or female. As a result, the petitioner’s parents gave her both a male and a female first name. However, from a very young age, the petitioner has been using only the female first name in her daily life.

Increasingly, the petitioner is bothered by the fact that her official first name is male. It often causes confusion among others, especially when she needs to handle official matters, as people assume that it is also her preferred name. This frequently leads to the need for further explanation, which the petitioner finds unpleasant. It also often leads to the assumption that she is male because the first name is predominantly male in nature, whereas the second name is predominantly female. The petitioner refers to an excerpt from the Dutch first names database.

The petitioner wants to renounce her official first name now and in the future so that she will only use the second name in her daily social interactions.

The court rules that the petitioner has a sufficiently substantial interest in the request for a first name change. The court grants the request. The petitioner will no longer carry her first name.