A little wacky news today. This German couple is arguing over whether their 15 month-old son, David Laurin Raphael Julian, needs a fifth name. After the boy’s first birthday, the city of Munich began charging the couple 50 euros a month for not resolving the issue.
When I lived in Hamburg, I knew several couples who were not married and whose children carried the mother’s family name. When I asked one woman why, she said that German law was quite inflexible when it came to changing names. If she and her partner were ever to separate, it would be almost impossible for her daughter to change her name to the mother’s name.
My understanding is that it is very easy to change your name or your child’s name (as long as both parents are informed) in the U.S. Should it be easy? What is the government’s interest in our names?
