Name declarations and German naming law

Name declaration
This is the step that quietly stops passports. If a name declaration is required, the passport application is not processed until the declaration is done, and that adds months.

German naming law decides what your legal German name is, and it does not simply accept what an American document says. Where the two diverge, a declaration settles which name German records will carry.

When one is needed

After a marriage, if you took a name that German records do not reflect.

For a child born abroad, when the name on the US birth certificate does not follow German naming rules or when the parents want to choose which law applies.

After a US name change, which German records do not follow automatically.

The mission will tell you at the appointment, and this is why an apparently routine passport renewal sometimes turns into a longer procedure.

Do you need a name declaration?

What it costs

Certifying the signature on the declaration costs 85.00 €.

Certifying the original documents that accompany it adds up to up to 33.00 €.

Applying through an honorary consul means those fees are paid in cash in US dollars, like the passport fee.

The order to do things in

Name declaration first, passport second. Doing it the other way round is what produces the long delays.

The declaration is registered in Germany, so the timeline is set there.

If you are registering a birth, deal with the name at the same appointment. It is the single most common cause of a second trip.

Fees around a name declaration

What Fee
Certifying the signature on a name declaration 85.00 €
Certifying the original documents with it up to 33.00 €
Through an honorary consul Cash in US dollars only

Which case applies to you

Spoiler title
If your German records still show your birth name, a declaration is probably needed before a passport can be issued in the married name.
Our child has a hyphenated surname
German naming law limits which combinations are allowed. Raise it at the birth registration appointment rather than at the passport one.
I changed my name by court order in the US
German records do not follow a US court order on their own. The declaration is what brings the two into line.
My current German passport already has the name I want
It may still not be enough. Missions sometimes need further documents or a declaration to prove the name, even when the passport shows it.
 Do the name declaration before the passport application, not after. That order is the difference between weeks and months. 
What to have ready
  • Your German and US identity documents
  • The marriage certificate, divorce decree or court order that changed the name
  • Birth certificates for everyone the declaration covers
  • Your previous German passport
  • The fee, in cash and in dollars if you are going to an honorary consul
All procedures
Book an appointment
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