Judgment of the Rotterdam District Court dated July 8, 2021
The applicants have two daughters. They named both daughters after their parents (the grandparents of the minors).
At the time of birth registration, the applicants did not consider registering their daughters’ given names. As a result, they have the namesake of their grandparents, but the commonly used given name is missing from their identification documents.
Both minors appreciate being named after their grandparents, but the applicants believe that they find it burdensome that their given name is not officially recorded anywhere. Despite their young age, the minors have already experienced some issues with this. For instance, in recent years, they have been to the hospital a few times, where they were called by their official first name instead of their commonly used given name. It also caused problems during the check-in process for vacations. Finally, the minors occasionally receive mail with the wrong salutation (e.g., addressed to Esmee* or “to the parents/guardians of Esmee”) by mistake. The applicants, as parents, have noticed that it increasingly bothers the minors. The applicants have had an extensive discussion with the minors about the possibility of officially ‘changing’ their name so that their commonly used given name is officially recognized. Both minors have expressed their desire to do this.
Based on the explanation provided by the applicants, the court approves the request for a change of given name. Henceforth, the commonly used given name will also be officially recorded on the minors’ identification documents.
- The actual given name is fictitious.
