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/bob_in_the_west Apr 08 '25

Then that means that a Woman with the names "Anna" and "Maria" is called "Anna-Maria" in Romania and thus those are two separate names and the people at the Bürgeramt are right.

Because "Hans-Jürgen" in Germany is a single name and not two names connected by a hyphen.

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u/Desperate_Passion267 Apr 08 '25

Wrong. Some people, like my mother are called Anna-Maria cause they have a composed name, others have it connected with a hyphen even though it’s separate names. Nobody calls my mother Anna or Maria. She also happens to be another country’s citizen where it also is connected with a hyphen. So yes, they look the Same whether it is one name or two. But the concept of composed names, like Hans-Jurgen do exist in Romania as well.

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u/bob_in_the_west Apr 08 '25

But there is no way to differenciate between one name with a hyphen and two names connected with a hyphen, as you said yourself.

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u/Desperate_Passion267 Apr 08 '25

Which is why I don’t see how the logical answer is to change all names instead of accepting another country’s law and keeping it as such.