Children may soon have the surnames of both parents. After the House of Representatives, the Senate also passed a bill that left the choice of Legal Protection Secretary Weerwind (and formerly Dekker’s) to the parents.
The background to the law is that two surnames can denote the connection between the child and both parents. Parents can give a androgynous name to the first child in a family. This choice also applies to all subsequent children.
The law was originally designed for newborns only, but Weerwind changed the rules to include all children born on or after January 1, 2016. However, parents who want to change the surname of these children have one year from the enactment of the law (January 1, 2024).
If parents choose both names, it will be written without a hyphen. For example, De Jong Van Vliet. Double surnames are not required. As in the House of Representatives, a large majority in the Senate voted in favor of the bill. Among the opposition voices was the ruling party CDA.
Source: NOS
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
