Dutch parents allowed to give child double last name

Until now, parents have had to choose between the name of the father or the mother's name. However, according to the Dutch Lower House, people indicated they wanted more freedom in choosing names. Therefore, the political representatives started the procedure to allow parents to give their children a double last name, the Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad reports.

Equal treatment

Parents can give their children one of their last names or both. That means that they have four options to choose from, as they can also choose the order of the names if they decide to pass on both the name of the father and the mother.

If the parents do not decide, the child will automatically get the name of the spouse of his or her mother if the parents are in a married relationship or registered partnership. If this is not the case, the child will receive the name of the birth mother. Adoptees can choose whether to keep their birth name or the name of their adoptive parents.

Up till 1998, children automatically received the name of their father. However, critics argued that this violated the equal treatment of men and women. Therefore, the law was changed so that parents could also choose to give their children the last name of their mother.

Meshing

In Germany, names are also a topic of debate. The German coalition disagrees on whether married couples should be able to merge their last names into one name, the Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad writes. Mr Schneider and Mrs Müller could then change their name to Schnüller. The idea came from the Green Party, but other parties immediately spoke out against it.

The discussion started because the German Minister of Justice wanted couples and their children to be allowed to have a double name.

Portugal, Spain and Belgium have already allowed the practice of double family names for children. In Great Britain, couples are allowed to "mesh" their last names.