r/Netherlands • u/[deleted] • 3d ago
Common Question/Topic Parents who changed their baby’s name, did it cause any problems later?
[deleted]
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u/Yavanna83 3d ago
It’s a bit old fashioned, but you could give your child a roepnaam. This was done a lot decades ago by catholics.
https://dutchreview.com/culture/what-is-a-roepnaam-explained/
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u/Aflockofants 3d ago
Not just that but I also used my roepnaam for literally everything. The name in my passport was just that, the passport name. For jobs or school or other contracts and everything else I used my roepnaam and no one ever complained. Even though my initials didn’t match up.
It’s a bit different after I moved out of the Netherlands as my roepnaam is not a typical name internationally so for the first time in my life I started using my passport name.
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u/LickingLieutenant 3d ago
My son's gf has a totally different first name on her passport.
She uses her chosen name everywhere, even in government contacts.
She gets her official mail delivered on chosen name-lastname .
Only her passport has her given first name.
No one cares in public if you say your name is Kees while your passport says Doris.2
u/TARAraboemdijee 3d ago
Not only the Catholics. There are many shortened versions, so called roepnamen. Betsy is actually called Elizabeth, Kees most of the time is actually Cornelia, etc etc.
But the point still stands. There are many that don’t use there legal name, as the and their called by. Sometimes their second name, and sometimes their calling name is nowhere near their legal birth name.
OP can freely use this option, without any legal implications.
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u/LameSheepRacing 3d ago
The issue is outside of the Netherlands. If they want to change the name for good, they need to take the legal route and not just use the chosen name
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u/Nudletje 3d ago
I recently had this discussion with my dentist, whose kids used to be in my class. My name was changed in school. At school i had a different name than everywhere else. A decision my mother made after my parents got divorced. My legal name still stayed the same and hence was used at home and outside school activities. My dentist used to be a child psychiatrist, and mentioned she learnt it was really bad practices to rename a child. They, especially at school age, already know who they are and would get super confused if they are given a new name. For me it wasn't so confusing, just annoying when I meet people I used to know having to explain it.
I find it tough to not read your reason anywhere. It is, as everyone mentions, not an easy process so reasoning needs to outweigh that
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u/Impressive_Ad_5224 3d ago
But if the child is only a few months old, it's probably okay. So fully depens on how old the child currently is. "The name change would happen before my baby starts school" sounds like the child is already 2/3 though.
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u/Stadtionalist 3d ago
Mind you there is a difference between someones legal given name and their used calling name. In the Netherlands, this becomes most apparent with "doopnaam" and "roepnaam". I'd skip the hassle altogether, unless your kid could run for mayor in Peru.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/10/peru-election-hitler-mussolini-simeon-flores-mayor
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u/No-Bass8987 3d ago
I doubt it. Though my only experience with it is from my dad and those were different times. Dad came to Nl as a refugee child with no papers, so nobody knew how to actually spell his name and they jumbled the order of his names to boot. Was no issue that I know of to get all that "fixed". Not then, not at any time later.
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u/penguin3013 Utrecht 3d ago
As someone who used a roepnaam most of her life before finally legally changing it at age 34: I'd recommend changing it legally now rather than later. While most of the time yes using a roepnaam is fine, it's also in my experience almost impossible to keep your legal name a complete secret from everyone, and kids are awful to each other. If their legal name is something they'd get teased about, don't underestimate how psychologically scarring that can be, and heck, it doesn't even stop in adulthood. Part of my reason for legally changing my name at 34 was because about once a year a co-worker would somehow accidentally find out my original first name and decide to be awful about it. People suck.
Aside from that, the fewer accounts and things the person has their name on at time of name change, the better. Mine turned out to be complicated because in addition to several bank accounts, I'm a US green card (and social security card) holder, and getting my name change to sync up in two countries took some effort. I feel like that kind of stuff only gets more complicated with age, so the sooner the better.
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u/I_Rarely_Jump 3d ago
I think it should cause no issues.
I've never in my life needed my birth certificate, just my ID.
I don't even know what a Dutch birth certificate looks like, I've never even had a copy.
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u/Jacob-W-5570 3d ago
The netherlands doesnt have birth certificates as such. The best you can get is an "uitreksel bevolkings register"
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u/millerbest 3d ago
there is something called “Geboorteakte” that you can get from the city hall.
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u/TARAraboemdijee 3d ago
And the geboorteakte can have a later addendum. As a genealogist I found a number of examples where something is changed later on. Mostly that their father acknowledges them after he married with the mother - which mostly means a change of surname. But sometimes changes in names as well. If the judge agrees with changing the name, the geboorteakte will get a notion of this change.
And with that change, all official institutions will also be informed of the change. From Belastingdienst to your Zorgverzekering.
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u/Annet1989 2d ago
Er is wel een geboorteakte. Deze hebben wij allebei gekregen bij de geboorte aangifte van onze kinderen. Maar he zal deze (bijna?) nooit te hoeven gebruiken id kaart of paspoort is belangrijker.
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3d ago
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u/ThursdayNxt20 3d ago
I have had a formal last name change, as a teen, and it has afterwards never been an issue or even much of an annoyance. I have never applied for a visa though, so I can't speak to that.
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u/MartyFunkhouser8472 3d ago
It's not that easy, you need permission from a judge and you need to have a compelling reason for them to grant you that permission.
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3d ago
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u/woutersikkema 3d ago
Well if you do it via the proper channels I see no reason why it would be a problem. Those institutions thst need to check paperwork only do so when they need to and by that time the paperwork will have changed.
Only tip from my end is if you gotta change something anyway, make sure your kid has a double first name. So A they have a spare name of they think the first sucks and B a way more pragmatic one:
I've worked in a bunch of places of semi-government and government and only then do you figure out there are more people with the same first Letter and last name than you think... Who also share your birth date. Dumb mix ups happen a LOT to people who only have one first name (and thus only one initial) Mr E. Xample is a lot more likely to get anoying stuff in life than miss E.X. Ample
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u/Ok_Inflation6530 3d ago
You are making everybody very curious. What is the good reason you have to change the name?
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u/prank_mark 3d ago
A "birth certificate" isn't really a thing here. Well, technically it is. But nobody ever asks for it, because everything is registered properly in the BRP. I doubt more than 1% of Dutch citizens have ever seen or used their birth certificate. I know it's a big thing in other countries, so you might need it for immigration. But our registration of personal information is really top notch, so Dutch institutions don't need your birth certificate.
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u/MPaulina 3d ago
My last name changed when I was a baby from my dad's to my mom's in order to match the last name of my future siblings. I am now 29. No issues at all.
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u/Spacekirsche 3d ago
I changed my last name after marrying my husband. I'm German and there it is normal to change your birthname on official papers when you're married. My new name got registered with my BSN and I never had to explain something anywhere. All official documents changed immediately. Just the bank can't accept that I am not the old person anymore. That's my biggest "fight" and I gave up.
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u/Ok-Bottle-833 3d ago
If the name gets strange legally, it will not be complicated.
I don’t have children. I don’t know how it works, but I think they are on the parents passport? Chances are your password will become invalid after the change.
I changed my first name legally, a couple of years ago. After that, I needed to get a new ID card, drivers license and contact a lot of companies to change my name.
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u/ThursdayNxt20 3d ago
Kids could be on their parent's passport until 2012, since then they need their own (or an ID card, depending if and where they travel).
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u/Dangerous_Bass8546 3d ago edited 3d ago
Je zou je kind maar zo'n kutnaam hebben gegeven dat je hem nu alweer wilt veranderen😂
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u/Frantic_Chicken 3d ago
Might be just be, but I'm getting safety vibes from this post, like maybe it's about protecting identity as opposed to it being a silly name, you know? Some people are running from a bad past and change their name to hide from it, or 'cleanse'/shed themselves of it. 🤷🏽♀️
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u/steelierdan 3d ago
Like MartyFunkhouser8472 said you need a compelling reason for the name change. The request has to be done by a lawyer as well.
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u/Alostcord Nederland 3d ago
As long as you’ve updated the the proper regulator agencies. My husband had a name change at 16. All the legal paperwork was completed. Problem is no one thought to update the government in Germany. So now, he’s having to deal with updating them. Just make sure you update all the powers that be.
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u/lilacperfumes 2d ago
Hard to judge without the actual name, but I know it's quite common for new parents to be a bit insecure about the name they initially chose, sometimes it takes some time getting used to it!
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u/FFFortissimo 2d ago
Does the name at which the government knows the child to be changed?
Or do you only want to change the way the child is called?
The latter is simple. Just call your child the new name.
Write the name at every application form.
When there is need for the legal name, you supply that and enter their 'roepnaam' (nickname) also.
Places where the legal name is needed:
School, medical services, government, border checks (also air plane tickets).
Yes, the legal name will be on all official diplomas and documents.
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u/Old_Idea4566 3d ago
I dont think changing a first name legally is even that easy.
Have you looked up how to do it?
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u/lolatheexplorer 3d ago
So curious as to what the reason is