Name changes in Germany

[somanywateringcans]

We are an unmarried Anglo German couple living in the UK. Our child has both German and British passports and father’s last name which went straight onto the birth certificate in the UK but we needed to do a name declaration to reflect this for the German passport.

We have decided to change our name after getting married and won't continue to use his.

This is straight forward to do in the UK but does anyone know the process in Germany? Will I be able to do another name declaration? Or will my child end up two different names in both in different countries? I know German laws can often be more restrictive.

It really depends on wether you're planning to use your name once you get married or a completely new name unrelated to your current surnames.

Switching to your name as a marital name would be very straight forward, your DC's name would be changed automatically if they're under 5 or with their agreement if 5 and over (§ 1617c BGB).

If you're planning to change your name to something completely different, your child will likely end up with two different names in the UK vs. Germany.
German law generally doesn't recognise name changes by deed poll. Before Brexit, Germany might have recognised the name due to provisions in European law, at least as long as the name change doesn't go against the 'ordre public' (so e.g. no made-up or bought titles, but regular surname possibly fine if you have a good reason for the name change). After Brexit....probably not.

Thanks for the reply @PurbeckStone

The idea is to use my name or his name hyphenated with my middle name which is a surname that has come down the female line in my family so all real historic names and not made. From what I've found online I think as my child has dual nationality we can choose UK naming law over German. Surely they must be forced to change it as it would be problematic being called two different things in different countries?

As for Brexit it is such an unnecessary pain!

Hyphenated or Doppelnamen are not allowed anymore in Germany as far as I know.It was becoming more and more complicate with some folk having three names ie Frau Helga Maier -Müller -Huber marrying Hr Hans Schneider-Schmitz so that they put a stop to it .Married couples have to choose a family name that the all offspring use. that is as far as I know.contact a Standesamt somewhere maybe?

From what I've found online I think as my child has dual nationality we can choose UK naming law over German.

Yes, this is correct and should also allow your child to use a hyphenated name. Generally,schnubbins is right, in Germany a married couple would have to choose one of the two names for their offspring in order to avoid overly long names further down the line. In your case, this can be circumvented by choosing UK naming law over German.

I think in your case it will probably depend on the exact constellation of who is planning to do what / which one of you is British.

If the British parent changes their name by deed poll and then hyphenates this new surname with the German parent's original surname, this should be fine and the child would be able to use the same hyphenated name.

Problems are more likely to arise if it's the German parent who wants to change their surname by deed poll (even if an already existing middle name is used). As mentioned above, Germany generally doesn't recognise name changes by deed poll (EU law could have helped with this as name usage ties into freedom of movement, but obviously not after Brexit) and that issue would presumably 'filter down' to the child's name as well.

if you have a 'namenserklärung' already, that's it in germany I'm afraid. that's your official german family name.
if you marry you will the either keep your own name or take on the name in the namenserklärung. the official who took it should have explained it all when making the declaration.

@woodencoffeetable do you know if this means our child will have two different identities in UK and Germany? Seems a very odd system.

sorry, can't answer that question. though I know people who have different spellings in different passports. but not totally different names.
there is a 'known as' possibility for passports, but that's mainly for stage names and it has very strict rules.

tbh to germans the british system seems odd, to be able to change name without getting married or being in a witness protection programme...

Ha yes I can see that it may seem odd. I have to say that actually feel that the German system is archaic and inflexible. You should be free to choose your name for many personal reasons. In our case it will be on marriage and wanting to create something that reflects both of us equally. I know many people here who have double barrelled and a couple who have meshed their names when married it's becoming more and more common.

if you have a 'namenserklärung' already, that's it in germany I'm afraid. that's your official german family name.

Very much not my area of expertise, but I don't think this is correct. If an unmarried couple has a child and then they get married later, the child's name is changed to the parents' marital name automatically if the child is under five or with their agreement if over five (§ 1617c BGB). As mentioned above, thanks to Art. 10 III EGBGB, a double-barrelled name would also be fine in your case.

The only possible / likely problem here is that OP wants to change her name prior to double-barrelling. Wether this name change would be recognised by Germany is a question you should ask the German embassy / consulate. They will have plenty of experience in these matters. Alternatively, have a friend or family member ask someone at their local Standesamt in Germany.
Also remember that name changes are possible in Germany, too. If you have a very common name for example it absolutely is possible to change your name. See if any of the reasons listed here might apply to your family: www.test.de/Namen-aendern-Einfacher-als-viele-denken-5388558-0/

Name change by deed poll is a common law thing and the countries that recognise such name changes tend to be mostly common law countries only. While the idea of extremely liberal naming laws is appealing in some ways, the endless possibilities to use deed polls for criminal ends are a bit worrying to me. Cases of people selling houses that don't belong to them or cowboy builders and scammers setting up one company after the other under ever changing names immediately spring to mind...

@PurbeckStone thanks for this I very helpful!

Yes of course the use for nefarious means is concerning. The system in the UK seems remarkably straight forward and I guess open to misuse. I think as long as the process is rigorous when checking who is changing names for ie do they have a criminal record etc then it isn't an issue however I've no idea if it is as I've never done one before.