Judgment of the District Court of Central Netherlands dated June 17, 2021
The petitioner was born and raised in Suriname. Originally, she was given the name Aby Bernice*, but her mother’s intention was to name her Abygail Bernice. Because her mother could not get used to the name Bernice, she took the opportunity to contact the civil registry officer in Paramaribo to remove the second first name, Bernice. Despite the mother’s explicit wish, the name Aby was not changed to Abygail at that time.
The petitioner has been going by the name Abygail for years and finds it problematic that her mother’s desired first name was not formalized. She considers the name an integral part of her identity and believes it should be part of her name. Within the family circle, the petitioner experienced limited inconvenience due to the incomplete name because her mother and grandmother always addressed her by the full name Abygail, as intended. The petitioner has always had a strong desire to change her name to Abygail, but she now has the opportunity to take concrete steps to do so. She can accommodate the lack of name registration in her daily life – for example, she introduces herself to others as Abygail – but at the same time, she knows that the name is not officially recorded anywhere. This makes her feel incomplete as a part of her name is missing. It is of great importance to the petitioner that she can carry the name as her mother had intended.
Based on the petitioner’s motivation, the court grants the request.
- Real first names are fictional.
