In 2021, the city of Utrecht announced that it would examine funding citizens that desire to change their surname from a slave name to another name. Surnames can still reflect the darker aspects of the Dutch colonial past. This announcement has triggered a discussion as to why changing a name with a direct connection to slavery is not free of charge.

Changing your surname is notoriously difficult in The Netherlands. Currently, you have to prove that you have psychological problems resulting from your name. You need an expert opinion from a registered medical professional and then you will have to apply for a surname change at quite some cost. See more about the process here (the C1 criterium is applicable).

The city of Utrecht, The Netherlands’ fourth largest city, addressed this in a resolution stating:

It is inhumane that Surinamese and Antillean Dutch, who are descended from enslaved people, have to suffer daily from their last name.

Many Dutch plantation owners ‘named’ their slaves random names. Examples are names of Dutch towns spelled backwards (Madretsma for Amsterdam), a version of the plantation owner’s name (Vriesde for De Vries) or the name of the plantation itself. When slavery was abolished, these names were carried over into the public register. Some of these slave names make no sense in the modern world. They also symbolise the dehumanising process of slavery.

There is a precedent for making surname change free. In 2021 the government changed the guidelines to make it easier for the victims of violent crime by a parent or grandparent to change their surname. The requirement for a psychological assessment was also scrapped in this case.

Though all four of the big cities in The Netherlands have requested the government to review its policy , to date there has been no announcement that the policy is under review. Utrecht is said to be examining a programme to compensate the costs of the name change procedure in the meantime.

If you have any questions about surname change, please contact us.

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