BFederal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) has announced a comprehensive reform of naming rights that will give citizens more freedom when choosing double names. “We have to open up to a changing society when it comes to naming rights,” said Buschmann of the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. Today’s naming law is “a big irrational mess”.
“We have to give people more freedom to design their family names, because otherwise we’ll get absurd results that nobody can seriously want anymore,” Buschmann continued. Spouses could not adopt a common double name, nor could their children. Name law only allows a spouse to add their name to the common married name after marriage.
It gets even more complicated after a divorce, Buschmann said. “Adult children sometimes have to keep the surname of a step-parent with whom they no longer have anything to do, against their own will and that of a parent,” criticized the minister.
The name is a very personal matter. “And I trust people to find a solution that suits them themselves,” said Buschmann.