Judgment of the Middle-Netherlands Court dated February 1, 2019

The applicant is originally from China. From a young age, she was negatively confronted with her first name. This began during primary school, where her name was made fun of, including the use of a negative variant of her name.

Bullying

When the applicant moved on to high school, the teasing escalated. She was bullied because of her name, and this left her with many negative memories. An example that stands out is that her name and variations of it were occasionally called out to her in the hallways. During those moments, she felt embarrassed and humiliated. She encountered this at least weekly, even from people she didn’t know. All of this was a source of great sadness for the applicant. She tried to ignore it as much as possible, but repeatedly asking those people to stop did not help.

Impact of the first name

The applicant continues to be affected by her current first name. In the past, after she finished high school, she was even confronted with her name in ways that went beyond bullying. Over the years, the applicant has also been confronted with her name in other ways, for example, when she got a job and her colleagues made comments about her unusual name, sometimes in a derogatory manner. This led to the applicant becoming depressed. Others constantly harassed her about her name. She also recently discovered that her first name has a negative meaning in the English language. She is also confronted with this now. She experiences such hindrance from her first name that she is afraid to meet new people and introduce herself with her current first name. She has even had to undergo therapy sessions due to the mental distress she experienced from the bullying. Considering these underlying facts and circumstances, she wishes to change her first name to Ashley* and have her second first name removed.

Second first name

The applicant also finds the use of her second first name bothersome because others often do not understand it, no matter how often or clearly she pronounces it. This causes uncomfortable and awkward situations for her. Although she finds the use of her second first name less bothersome than her first name, she is still regularly teased about it, and jokes are made about it. For this reason, the applicant does not use her second first name, as she tries to avoid introducing herself with her current first names as much as possible. Removing her second first name would prevent confusion and discomfort for the applicant, as by removing her second first name, she would only need to introduce herself with her desired first name, Ashley. The importance for the applicant in removing her second first name is also based on the fact that, due to the change of her first name, her second first name no longer has any added value and, furthermore, the name evokes negative associations and memories for the applicant.

The court has sufficient information to make a decision on the request. Based on the applicant’s motivation, the court has decided to grant the request.