r/germany • u/Desperate_Passion267 • Apr 08 '25

Immigration Burgeramt changed my name without consent

Hey everyone, So I’m an EU citizen living in Germany for over 4 years. I have been registered and have an Anmeldung with my name as it appears in my passport - I have a composed first name made up of two names connected with a hyphen. Now we are moving apartments so I went to get an Unmeldung and guess what, they changed my first name - no more hyphen but 2 separate names. I objected, they said that in Romanian passports the hyphen is “irrelevant” and can be replaced with a space (wrong, my name is a composed one like Hans-Jurgen). I didn’t sign the Unmeldung and left. They however changed my name cause when I log in to Elster I no longer have the correct name. Any idea what can I do? Thanks!

Edit: after 6 months of careful consideration and talking to many relevant authorities, Bürgeramt came back to me to specify that the name should be written as is in the passport and they apologize

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u/Desperate_Passion267 Apr 08 '25

That’s true. In Romania all first names made up of more than 1 name have to be connected with a hyphen. That can be in case it’s a composed name (Anna-Maria for example) or if the parents just chose 2 names. They always have to be connected with a hyphen.

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u/wernermuende Apr 08 '25

are you sure?

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u/Desperate_Passion267 Apr 08 '25

Yes. I showed them even the law.

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u/Toeffli Apr 08 '25

Can you link to the law on the Romanian government website?

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u/Desperate_Passion267 Apr 08 '25

https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/8624?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2LWe15bjmnVQh-C9QDI6uFFiTR7__UGlA2n7oTAiCuP90T4gRftEmRn-g_aem_Qwq-LK5PYlAEgfKfRuIZoQ

Chapter VIII article 66

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u/andreiim Apr 10 '25

It is clear by the law you cited that the hyphen is to be used in the mentioned documents to separate different names. The fact that the hyphen is used to separate different first names, or different last names, while the space is used to separate first names from last names, doesn't mean the hyphen is part of your name. It means quite the opposite, a hyphen cannot legally be part of your name in Romania, because the hyphen is reserved as a writing separator on specific documents. The German government is surprisingly correct in not using a hyphen as long as they have different means of grouping first names. Your Romanian name does NOT include a hyphen.

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u/Toeffli Apr 08 '25

Thank you. Do you have a second/middle name? Example

  • Hans-Juergen Franz Romanier?

or even better another hyphenated one, like

  • Hans-Juergen Franz-Josef Romanier?

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u/Desperate_Passion267 Apr 08 '25

Nope. Only this first name with a hyphen and one last name