Name determination

In the Federal Republic of Germany, a person's name is assessed according to the private law provisions of the German Civil Code. According to this, name changes of a family law nature are essentially considered:

• as a result of marriage or the establishment of a civil partnership
• after adoption as a child
• after subsequent establishment of joint parental custody or extension of the parental name change to children
• after a further marriage of a parent with custody of the child
• as a result of further declarations under naming law (e.g. after dissolution of marriage)

The private law regulations on marriage, establishing the parentage of a child, the naming of spouses and children, custody and adoption are governed by the German Civil Code.</p> <p

There are special regulations for displaced persons, ethnic German repatriates and certain groups of people, such as naturalized citizens, who acquired their name under foreign law but are now subject to German law. They can linguistically adapt their names to the German environment by means of a so-called declaration of assimilation.

The fee for a declaration of name at the registry office is 23.50 euros.