All children must have a first name and a surname no later than six months after their birth. The custodial parent(s) decide(s) the name of the child. Read more about the naming rules below.
Content
First names (in Danish "fornavne")
Approved First names (in Danish: “Godkendte fornavne”)
Non-approved first names (In Danish “Ikke godkendte fornavne”)
Middle name (In Danish “Mellemnavne”)
Surname (In Danish “Efternavn”)
Family affiliation
Protected surname
Patronymic name
Non-protected surname (in Danish "Frie efternavne")
Special naming rules (when there is no distinction between first name and surname)
Gender-specific surname suffixes
If you need more help with your child's name
Fornavn(e) ("First name(s)")
Your child must have at least one first name, but may have several first names, e.g., Ulla Camilla or Rasmus Martin. As long as there is no hyphen between the names, they are independent names.
Godkendte fornavne ("Approved first names")
You can choose first names from the list of approved first names and you can check whether a first name is approved on the list of approved first names issued by the Agency of Family Law.
You can choose between girl's names, boy's names and unisex names. A girl cannot have a boy's first name and vice versa.
You can put two approved first names together with a hyphen, for example Anne-Elisabeth or Jacob-Tobias.
> Find the list of "godkendte fornavne" at familieretshuset.dk (in Danish only)
Ikke-godkendte fornavne ("Non-approved first names")
If the first name you want for your child is not on the list of approved names, you can apply to have it approved. You do this when you complete the application, where you are asked to explain why you want a non-approved first name.
Mellemnavn ("Middle name")
It is optional if you want to give your child a middle name. The child may have more than one middle name.
A middle name is usually a surname inserted between one or more first names and the surname.
Example:
Ulla Borup Jensen. In this case, Borup is a middle name, which is inserted between the first name, Ulla and the surname Jensen.
Efternavn ("Surname")
Your child must have a surname. A surname is the last name and usually refers to your child's family (family name). If you do not have a family name, you can contact your registrar.
Your child can only be given one surname unless you as a parent have more surnames (that consists of more than one part of a name) from your own country that you wish your child to have unchanged. Two surnames can be joined with a hyphen to make one surname, for example Mcmullen-Jensen or Van den Houtte-Vestergård. No more than two surnames may be joined with a hyphen. You can also choose to insert one surname as a middle name.
Please note: If you join your two surnames with a hyphen, it is not considered to be a new surname.
There are different types of surnames:
Tilknytning ("family affiliation")
As a main rule, there must be a family affiliation with the surname you want to give your child. Family affiliation means that a surname must be borne by the child's ancestors "in direct line of descent" - that is, the child's parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents. Therefore, a child cannot have a surname borne by the parents' siblings, uncles, cousins, etc.
Please note: The child cannot get the father's/co-mother's surname until the paternity/co-motherhood is registered.
> Read about registration of paternity/co-motherhood on borger.dk (in Danish only)
Beskyttet efternavn ("Protected surname")
If there are 2,000 or fewer people with the same surname, it is protected. If your child is going to have a protected surname, this must be in your family, i.e., the child must have a family affiliation with the name (see the section above).
If the name is not in the family, your child can only have the name if you seek written permission from all persons more than 12 years of age, resident in Denmark, who bear the name as a surname. They must all sign a declaration of consent (in Danish “Samtykkeerklæring”). For more information, please read the guidance “Vejledning om navne”, section 3.10.
> Find out how many people who wear your preferred surname on the website of statistics of Denmark
> Find reference to the guidance ”Vejledning om navne” (in Danish only)
> Download the declaration of consent “Samtykkeerklæring” on paper form (pdf.) (in Danish only)
Patronymic name
A patronymic name is a surname consisting of the first name of the mother, father/co-mother with a suffix.
If your family is from Denmark, the patronymic name may have the suffixes “-søn” or “-datter”, for example Hannessøn/Hannesdatter or Erikssøn/Eriksdatter.
If your family is from another culture with a tradition for patronymic names, the child can have a patronymic name with the suffix from that culture, e.g. -son and -dottir from Iceland, for example Vigdisson/Vigdisdottir or Sigurdsson/Sigurdsdottir
You can read more about patronymic names in the the act “Bekendtgørelse af navne”, section 7, and in the guidance “Vejledning om navne”, section 3.12.
Please note: Patronymic names cannot be passed on to children or spouses.
> Find reference to the act “Bekendtgørelse om navne” (in Danish only)
> Find the guidance ”Vejledning om navne” (in Danish only)
Frit efternavn(e) ("Non-protected surname(s)")
If there are more than 2,000 people with the same surname, the surname is non-protected. You can give your child a non-protected surname either as a surname or middle name.
You can check the list of non-protected surnames issued by the Agency of Family Law to see if a surname is non-protected and can be taken by anyone.
> Find non-protected surnames at familieretshuset.dk
Special naming rules (when there is no distinction between first name and surname)
In some cultures, no distinction is made between first name and surname. The Danish naming rules allow your child to have the name of one of the parents or grandparents as his/her surname if the name is traditional in the relevant culture. You can see the list of these names, which are traditional in a culture that does not distinguish between first name and surname, (“§7, stk. 1, nr. 3”), on the website of the Agency of Family Law.
Gender-specific surname suffixes (in Danish: "kønsbestemte endelser")
Some surnames are traditional in a culture where there is gender-specific suffixes to the name. For example, Male: -“ov” and Female: “-ova”
The Danish naming rules allow your child to have a gender-specific suffix to his/her surname if the name is traditional in the relevant culture. You can see the list of these gender-specific suffixes on the website of the Agency of Family Law. You can also read about gender-specific suffixes in the Guidance "Vejledning om navne", section 3.9
> Find a list of gender-specific suffixes at familieretshuset.dk (in Danish only)
> Find reference to the guidance “Vejledning om navne” (in Danish only)
If you need more help with your child's name
If you need help, you can contact your local registrar: parish of residence or municipality of residence.
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Other relevant links
How to apply for a name for your child