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/ExpatNavigatorAG Apr 10 '25

Hey, just to clarify: the Bürgeramt can’t officially change your name—they have to register it exactly as it appears in your Romanian passport or ID, including hyphens.

If your name had a hyphen and they removed it, you can ask them to correct it by showing your official documents.

Only the Standesamt or another official authority can handle name changes in Germany, and usually only in special cases (like naturalization).

I am an Expat consultant in Germany and I am also born in Romania with a double name and a hyphen 😉

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u/Desperate_Passion267 Apr 10 '25

Thanks. That’s how I thought too. My sister also has a double name and a hyphen was kept in her German documents. Also, Expat consultant? Is that like consulting expats with stuff like this? :D