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Back to “Meier Müller”: According to the National Council Commission, the option to choose is intended to promote self-determination for couples.
Now it’s getting concrete: The legal commission of the National Council wants to reintroduce double names, i.e. make combinations like Meier Müller possible again.
Commissioner Min Li Marti, Zurich SP National Councillor, says: “With the reintroduction of double names, the aim is to increase the options for couples.” This corresponds to a need of many couples, which the civil registry offices also determined.
This corresponds to a need of many couples, as the civil registry offices also tell us.
Married people should now be able to have double names again. The aim is for both parents to be able to keep their own names and thus make the connection to the children clear, says FDP member of the Council of States Andrea Caroni.
He also supports the change: “Double names are the only chance for a couple to keep the name for continuity while expressing family. That’s only possible with double names.”
Back to the Future
Official double names already existed before, but they were abolished with the last change in naming law in 2013.
Parliament misjudged the needs of the population, says Zurich GLP National Councilor Judith Bellaiche. Because it did not happen that the majority of women kept their own name, but the majority took the name of the man.
The majority of women took the man’s name.
According to Bellaiche, this was a step backwards in terms of equality. But in retrospect one is always wiser. Even then, the goal was to strengthen the position of women by making their names more important.
The opposite happened: “The self-determination of women and men is very important. We want to make that possible with this new template,” emphasizes Bellaiche.
This should happen with the reintroduction of double names. Parties and associations now have until October to comment. There is a good chance that “Meier-Müller” will be possible again in the future.