Judgment of the Zeeland-West-Brabant District Court dated November 17, 2020

The petitioner has been bullied extensively in the past because of her first names. As she is of Vietnamese origin, her mother and sister were afraid from an early age that the petitioner’s first names would not be pronounced correctly at school. For this reason, they came up with a different nickname for her.

However, the first name quickly led to bullying in practice; the petitioner was often bullied at school because the name was unusual in the Netherlands. This was a very traumatic experience for her, making her very insecure as a young child. It also led to social anxiety, as the petitioner was hardly able to introduce herself to others, especially when she moved up a grade in school. She wants to never hear her current first name again.

In high school, the petitioner chose to keep her real first name (not the nickname). She then found out that her mother and sister were right: the first names were often pronounced incorrectly by others. The nuisance became even worse when the petitioner’s parents got married because her last name was changed. This led to (new) bullying. The petitioner hardly had any friends at school. It led to depression, and at one point, she stopped going to school for several weeks. The petitioner was listless.

Meanwhile, conflicts arose at home between the petitioner and her parents because her parents said that she should be happy with what she had. In Asian culture, the prevailing view is often that there is no such thing as depression. The petitioner stayed in the school library only and stopped attending classes. Things were not going well at school or at home. The truancy officer became involved at some point. The petitioner wanted to change her first name much earlier, but it had to be done through her parents before her 18th birthday. Her parents did not want to file this request for her, and they also did not have the financial means.

The petitioner felt that she still had not found her identity. She fell into a severe depression. Due to the Asian culture, where, as mentioned, this is seen as a weakness, the petitioner was ashamed of her depression. No one knew about it. It has so influenced the petitioner’s life that she almost failed at school. Now she wants to change her nickname to a specific name. She feels very good about it. Part of the nickname is still in her first names, so she does not feel like disappointing her parents. However, the nickname is never mispronounced, and she is not teased or bullied with it. Now she wants to realize the name change so that her official first names no longer appear anywhere. She has been traumatized by the first names and wants to distance herself from them.

The court grants the request for a name change. After the completion of the appeal period, the petitioner can use her new names.