Gender identity and changing your child’s name
You can apply to change your child's first name to match your child's gender identity. It requires that your child fulfills certain conditions.
You can apply to change your child's first name to match your child's gender identity. It requires that your child fulfills certain conditions.
Gender identity
A first name cannot indicate the opposite gender of the person who will bear it. This means that a legally female person can only take names approved for girls, while a legally male person can only take names approved for boys. Some names are approved as unisex. However, a person may be exempt from this rule if they declare that their choice of name reflects an experience of belonging to the opposite sex.
A person can adopt a name that aligns with their gender identity by declaring that the desire for the name is based on their experience of belonging to the opposite sex.
You can apply for a name change to a name that suits the opposite gender if your child states that the reason for the name change is the child's experience of belonging to the opposite gender.
If your child is under 12 years of age, the parent(s) must sign the gender identity declaration.
If your child is 12-17 years old, it is the child who must sign the gender identity declaration.
The application and the declaration of gender identity must be submitted together to the church office in the parish where the child lives. If the child is registered in Southern Jutland, the application and declaration must be submitted to the municipality where the child is registered. You canapply for a name change on borger.dk.
Approval of new names
If you want a name that is not yet approved, you can apply to have a new first name approved as either a girl's name or a boy's name. You can read more aboutthe rules for names on the Agency of Family Law’s website.
It is not possible to approve a newly created first name as a unisex name; first names can only be approved as either male or female names. However, over time, some names may gain approval for use by both genders if they meet the necessary criteria. For example, if a person legally identified as male applies to adopt an approved female name, the name may also be approved as a male name if the Agency of Family Law determines it is commonly used as a male name in Denmark or abroad. In such cases, the name becomes recognised as a unisex name.
The limitations of the Names Act
The Names Act has limitations for nonbinary individuals, as it only allows a name to correspond to a person's legal gender or for the person to declare that their choice of name is based on a feeling of belonging to the opposite sex.
Articles about names
(/Kønsidentitet og navneændring af dit barns navn_files/hinkeruden-cb(1).png)
What should you name your child?
Learn about the rules for naming and about the options for choosing names.
(/Kønsidentitet og navneændring af dit barns navn_files/hinkeruden-cb(1).png)
Gender identity and name change for adults
Find out how to change your name as an adult.
Partners
Contact
Godkendelse af nye navne
Hvis du vil have et navn, der endnu ikke er godkendt, kan du ansøge om at få et nyt fornavn godkendt som enten et pigenavn eller et drengenavn. Du kan læse mere om reglerne for navne på Familieretshusets hjemmeside.
Det er ikke muligt at godkende et nydannet fornavn som et unisexnavn, et fornavn kan kun godkendes som drenge- eller pigefornavn (eller omvendt). Med tiden kan nogle navne blive godkendt til begge køn, hvis navnet opfylder betingelserne herfor. F.eks. hvis en person, der juridisk er mand søger om at tage et godkendt pigefornavn, kan navnet også godkendes som et drengenavn, hvis Familieretshuset kan konstatere, at navnet er almindelig anvendt som drengenavn i Danmark og/eller i udlandet. Navnet vil således blive et unisexnavn.
Navnelovens begrænsninger
Navneloven har begrænsninger i forhold til nonbinære personer, idet der kun er mulighed for at tage et navn, der svarer til ens juridiske køn eller erklære, at ønsket om navnet er begrundet i en oplevelse af at tilhøre det modsatte køn.