Judgment of the Rotterdam Court dated September 16, 2019

The applicant is originally from China. She has an official Asian first name but has been using a different nickname since her early childhood.

Initially, the applicant was not ashamed of her official Chinese first name, but a series of events related to her official name made her hate it. From the first year of secondary school onwards, her classmates accidentally discovered her actual name through official documents. Those who found out laughed at the applicant and mocked her name.

The first year of secondary school is a time when children are very sensitive to bullying, and the applicant was 12 years old at that time. From that moment on, she made sure to keep her official name a “secret.” If classmates or friends talked about their official names or second names and asked the applicant about hers, she always concealed her official name.

In the following years of secondary school, the applicant managed to keep her name well-hidden until another event occurred at the beginning of a new school year. To confirm the names for school records and diplomas, a list was passed around the class with the official names of all the students. This revealed her actual name to the whole class, and they began to shout it and laugh about it. From that moment on, everyone mockingly addressed the applicant by her official first name.

These events were a lasting source of distress for the applicant. Furthermore, no one addresses the applicant by her official first name, not even her own family. The only people who use her official name do so without any serious intent, solely to ridicule her. The applicant cannot identify with her official first name.

Finally, the applicant has been employed for several years. The nature of her job means that she is much more frequently confronted with her official name than before. In most of the tasks she performs, she finds it strange to see her official first name and nothing of her own identity, namely her nickname. Many colleagues who see her name always ask her why she has that name, if she came up with the nickname herself, since when she has been using the nickname, and whether she is ashamed of her official name and that’s why she uses the Western nickname. The applicant finds it very tiring and frustrating to have to explain this to everyone repeatedly, when the simple reason is that she was given this official Chinese first name and has a Western nickname.

The applicant submits a request for a name change and provides a motivation outlining all the difficulties related to her first name. The court grants the request (in writing) based on this motivation.