Judgment of the Amsterdam Court dated August 14, 2019

The applicant has four first names and wishes to remove two of them. The underlying reasons and motives for this are as follows.

From a young age, the applicant has been negatively confronted with her second and fourth first names. This is because the applicant’s grandfather actually wanted to name his last-born daughter Esther*, but it never happened. Additionally, due to her Native American heritage, the applicant finds her second first name burdensome because the name has a negative meaning in the Native American language.

The applicant’s mother has always had the intention of giving her specific names. However, this has not yet happened in the birth registration. On the other hand, for the past few years, the applicant has been using the nickname Aïsha and is also known as such by family, friends, and acquaintances.

To further support her request, the applicant refers to a ruling by the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeals dated April 14, 2015, ECLI:NL:GHARL:2015:2682, in which a request for a name change was also filed because the petitioner in that case was being bullied with his name. The court granted the request and stated in this regard (paragraph 4.4, citation):

“The court, unlike the lower court, is of the opinion that the petitioner has sufficiently substantiated that he has a weighty interest in the requested change of his first names. The petitioner has sufficiently argued that he is heavily emotionally burdened when confronted with his official first names.”

In that case, the requesting party was bullied for a long period of 10 years, similar to the situation of the applicant in this case. However, unlike the petitioner in that case, the first name of the applicant, Esther, is both her first name and her nickname. Finally, the applicant argues that through the requested name change, especially considering that she is a young adult, she can transition to adulthood and create her identity; she is currently to some extent hindered in this process due to the psychological issues she experiences as a result of her current first names.

The court grants the request, considering the application and the submitted psychological report.

*The real first names have been fictionalized.