Politics Councillors argue about the reintroduction of double names
The dispute over the reintroduction of double names remains unresolved. Both councils agree that double names may be used again. However, there is disagreement over the new model to be used.
16.12.2025, 11:18
SDA
The National Council upheld its decisions on Tuesday - by 115 votes to 71 with 2 abstentions. Accordingly, double names should be composed individually from the two available names of the engaged couple. The Council of States, on the other hand, is of the opinion that only the single name should be passed on to partners or joint children, but not names from previous marriages.
The majority in the upper chamber considers the model adopted by the Council of States to be outdated and problematic in terms of equality between men and women, as committee spokesperson Patricia von Falkenstein (LDP/BS) said. As a result, the National Council's model also allows the engaged couple to have the same (double) name, as is the case with surnames.
An SVP/Mitte minority argued that the reintroduction of the family name would strengthen the common family identity and legal certainty. At the same time, the consistent single name principle would prevent "name tourism" with names from previous marriages and preserve the transparency of parentage. Children would be protected from identity confusion caused by foreign name components.
No double names for children
Today, engaged couples are restricted in their choice of names. For example, when Peter Muster and Petra Weber get married, they can only choose whether they want to be called Peter Muster and Petra Muster, Peter Weber and Petra Weber or Peter Muster and Petra Weber. In practice, it has been shown that the majority of wives take their husband's name when they get married.
In future, the option of having a double name, which used to be very popular and well accepted, will be possible again. This opens up more opportunities for the future child's name to be included in the spouse's own name. There are no plans for double names for children.
The debate on which surnames married couples will be able to use in future will continue in the spring session.
