Change of Name or Surname in Greece — Lawyer

Change of surname in Greece

A first name and surname form part of an individual’s personality; however, the change of name or surname does not lie within private will but concerns public order, as a matter connected with the security of transactions and of the legal relationships of public or private law of the individual, and for this reason the change takes place through the administrative route.

According to Legislative Decree 2573/1953, «… The acquisition and change of surname, as well as the acquisition of patronymic and matronymic in respect of children born outside lawful marriage of their parents or of unknown parents, is carried out by decision of the Prefect». In Chapter C of Decision No. F.42301/12167/28-06-1995 of the Deputy Minister of the Interior (Government Gazette B’ 608), issued pursuant to authorisation under the above provision, the following is provided: «1. For the change of surname, an application of the interested party is submitted to the Prefect … in which the purpose for which the change is sought must be set out in detail and the surname whose acquisition is requested must be declared. This application is addressed to the Prefect within whose region falls the municipality or community in whose male register or municipal roll the interested party is recorded. … 2. The Prefect orders, at the expense of the interested party, the publication of a summary of the application for change of surname in one of the newspapers published in the capital or the region of the prefecture, or of a neighbouring prefecture. The summary must contain accurate particulars as to the name, occupation, place and year of birth and place of residence of the interested party, as to the surname whose acquisition is sought, as well as an invitation to anyone opposing the requested change to submit, within fifteen (15) days from publication, his objections to the Prefect. 3. After the lapse of the fifteen (15)-day period, the Prefect issues a reasoned decision accepting or rejecting the application. By the same decision, the Prefect simultaneously rules on any objections that may have been submitted against the requested change. The decision of the Prefect accepting the requested change of surname is communicated to the authorities maintaining the municipal roll and male register, to the criminal record office of the competent Court of First Instance, to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and Police Authorities of the place of residence of the interested party, and to the interested party for production to the Police Authority of his place of residence upon issuance of an identity card …». The competence of the Prefect was transferred, by virtue of Law 3852/2010, to the organs of the relevant Municipalities.

Consequently, the competent administrative body assesses the reasons invoked by the applicant for the change of surname and rules on the basis of the seriousness of those reasons, providing specific reasoning for its decision. The Law does not enumerate the reasons for which a change of surname is permitted; however, the case law of the Council of State (StE) has held that «specific and serious reasons capable of justifying the change of surname» are required, such as, for instance, the causing of psychological problems where the surname is unpleasant-sounding or difficult to pronounce, the association of the surname with a bad reputation due to the acts of another person bearing it (e.g. an adult requesting change of surname because his parent acted unlawfully, with the result that the interested party is tarnished), complete estrangement of the person from the family environment of his father, and so on.

In the event of rejection of the application for change of surname, an administrative appeal may be lodged within an exclusive deadline of 30 days before the Secretary General of the Decentralised Administration, and thereafter, if the administrative appeal is also rejected, an application for annulment may be filed before the Council of State (StE).

Change of first name in Greece

A first name is changed by issuance of a court ruling under the procedure of voluntary jurisdiction, where a «serious reason» exists, such as for example the de facto establishment of a name owing to a «vow» to the Virgin Mary and its use in transactions and in the daily life of the person, the Hellenisation of the name following acquisition of Greek citizenship, the creation of undesirable consequences in the personal life of the person because the first name is unpleasant-sounding, the acquisition of a new name due to a change of religious denomination, and so forth. In addition, a change of first name is justified in cases of adoption, where the name of the minor child has no connection whatsoever with the families of the adoptive parents, with the result that it creates a problem for the person and constitutes a fact indicative of the adoption that has taken place.

The lawyer of the applicant must include in the application for change of name all the reasons that justify the change. The application filed with the court must also be served on the Public Prosecutor of the Court of First Instance. The court ruling issued on the application, once it acquires res judicata, must be registered with the competent civil registry, so that the particulars of the person are amended in the civil registry act of his birth, as well as in the municipal roll in which the person is registered.

Change of name and surname for Greeks residing abroad

Changing one’s name and surname is a difficult matter to accomplish in Greece. In particular, the procedure for changing a surname is almost impossible, as the change is decided by the Mayor of the place of residence of the applicant. In practice, the decision is taken by the registrar, but these decisions are usually rejections. Thus, those who wish to change their surname for any reason cannot easily do so other than by lodging, against the rejection decision, a petition before the Administrative Court of First Instance.

On the other hand, the change of first name is effected by court ruling following an application submitted to the competent Magistrate’s Court of the place of the civil registry act of birth. An indispensable formal precondition for filing an application for change of name is the existence of a Greek civil registry act of birth. That is to say, only a person who has been born in Greece, and not abroad, can change his name in Greece. An exception is made for those who were born abroad but whose parents are Greek, in which case the civil registry act of birth has been registered with the Special Civil Registry of Athens, or those who acquired Greek citizenship by determination, in which case again their civil registry act of birth has been registered with the Special Civil Registry.

Those who have acquired a Greek identity by naturalisation cannot change their name and surname in Greece, but must commence the change procedure in their country of origin in whatever manner is provided for there.

In any event, fortunate are those who are Greek either by birth or by naturalisation but reside abroad. This is because, in contrast to Greece and Greek law concerning change of name, abroad the change of name or surname is effected by a simple declaration to the competent public authority. Therefore, every Greek resident abroad who wishes to change the particulars of his identity (name or surname or both) need only apply to the competent authority and make the declaration for that change.

Once the change of name has been effected abroad, the way is then opened for the change of particulars in Greek documents as well. That is, the particulars on the identity card or passport are changed. In this case it is not required that there be a Greek civil registry act of birth, and a person who has obtained naturalisation can change his name. Specifically, an application is filed before the Court of First Instance and recognition of the validity of the foreign administrative act in Greece is requested. If that act concerns the change of name, the Court by its ruling accepts the change of name, and in all documents (civil registry, municipal, etc.) this change is effected. The procedure is relatively short in time and the outcome is positive.

For those who are residents of the United Kingdom, the change procedure is effected by way of the so-called deed poll. In Germany too, a corresponding declaration for change of surname is provided for. Women who marry British, German or Romanian nationals may change their surname and adopt the surname of their husband upon the declaration of their marriage at the civil registry. This may also be the case in other European countries, depending on what their family law provides. In particular, for women who are spouses of foreign men, it is common to take their husbands’ surname after marriage. In Greece this is not permitted, and a woman after marriage continues to retain her maiden surname. There is therefore confusion between her Greek documents, where she appears with her maiden surname, and her foreign documents, which refer to her by her husband’s surname. If that woman has two passports, the problem is evident.

The problem will also be evident after the birth of her children, where there will be no identity match in her particulars and she may not be able to register the birth of her children in Greece. For this reason, it is important that there be a complete identity match in the particulars of the names and surnames so as to avoid problems and confusion, since we are dealing with identity documents and passports. Already in the United Kingdom, a British passport cannot be issued unless there is an identity match between the Greek and British documents.

Gender reassignment has now entered our daily lives, and not a few are those who undertake this procedure. With the change of gender comes also the change of particulars on the identity card. Different name, different gender… What is the procedure followed in order for these corrections to be made? According to the provisions on change of name, any correction, addition or removal of a name is effected upon the civil registry act of birth of the interested party.

Therefore the first and most fundamental requirement is that the interested party be a Greek born in Greece, so as to have a civil registry act of birth, or a member of the Greek diaspora born abroad whose civil registry act of birth has been registered with the Special Civil Registry of Athens. The correction of the civil registry act is made only by court ruling of the Magistrate’s Court of the place of the civil registry act.

In this particular case, however, because the matter of the change of name or gender on the civil registry act of a person is a very delicate and personal issue, the application may be filed and the ruling issued by any other Magistrate’s Court in order to safeguard the anonymity of the applicant. This mainly concerns persons who were born in the provinces, where communities are smaller and anonymity is difficult to achieve.

For the same reason, the application is not heard in open courtroom but in a separate space, in order to ensure the anonymity and discretion that such cases require. The ruling is issued a few months later and corrects the name and gender first on the civil registry act of birth and subsequently on the birth certificate and the identity card or passport.

The whole procedure is conducted discreetly, away from indiscreet eyes, and such applications are rarely if ever rejected. The supporting documents required are a copy of the identity card, the civil registry act of birth and the medical document of the gender reassignment.