Judgment of the North Holland District Court dated August 12, 2021
The applicants resided abroad for some time and became parents of a daughter there. Initially, they chose the name Maya* when registering the birth. However, the birth registration of the minor was carried out by a third party who, contrary to the wishes of the applicants, gave the minor a different first name. Subsequently, the applicants explored the options to change the name to Maya in the country of residence, but they found that it would require a (high) fee to do so. For this reason, they did not decide to formally change the name at that time. However, in practice, the minor has been addressed as Maya since her birth. The applicants regret that they were unable to give the minor the name Maya from birth.
The minor experiences significant inconvenience because the first name Maya has not been formalized. She often has to explain to others that her actual name is different from what is stated on her identity document. Additionally, the official name itself causes her distress, as the minor believes it is stigmatizing.
No birth certificate has been issued for the minor in the country. The parents of the minor possess an original certificate and have it registered in the Dutch records. The court grants the request for a change of first name and orders the registration of the certificate.
- The real first name is fictional.
