The German constitutional court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) decided yesterday about a constitutional complaint from a bavarian married couple. The wife, a dentist from munich, wanted to keep her name and combine it with the already hyphenated name of her husband. This would have resulted in the awfully long name Frieda Rosemarie Thalheim-Kunz-Hallstein.
A law from 1993 allows married couples only one hyphen and two last names. They can also decide to keep their own names. The constitutional court had to decide if this law violates constitutional rights and decided to uphold the law with a split 5-3 decision.
German laws are old-fashioned and highly regulated when it comes to naming. Children’s names have to be approved by local authorities, forenames are limited to five names, and there is an official international reference handbook of forenames to guide parents in their name search.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
She should remove the hyphens and become Frieda Rosemarie Thalheimkunzhallstein and see what the German courts say about that!
Germans always tend to make it a bit harder… I guess that’s why the economy fails too. Too much talk about creating new laws, and everyone ignoring the laws already in place. Oh well… Germany.