Swiss debate double-barrelled names for spouses and registered partners
The House of Representatives had agreed on the bill drafted by its legal affairs committee in the 2024 spring session, but subsequently referred it back to the committee.
Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle
A bill that would once again permit married couples and registered partners in Switzerland to have a double-barrelled surname has moved one step closer.
Switzerland’s House of Representatives has approved a reform to the country’s naming laws. Children would be exempt from this, however, and would still only be allowed to have a single surname.
The House of Representatives had agreed on the bill drafted by its legal affairs committee in the 2024 spring session, but subsequently referred it back to the committee. The committee was tasked with revising the draft so that double-barrelled names would only be introduced for spouses and not for children.
The bill that has now been adopted by the House of Representatives is based on the concept that every engaged couple can individually choose the name they wish to have after marriage, whether or not they want a double-barrelled surname.
If they choose to have a double-barrelled surname, they would have to declare the order in which the names should appear and whether they should be joined with a hyphen.
The bill will now go to the Senate.
Adapted from German by DeepL/kp
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
Is your place of origin, your Heimatort, important to you?
Every Swiss citizen has a Heimatort, a place of origin, but many have never visited theirs. What’s your relationship with your Heimatort? What does it mean to you?
This content was published on
Scientists have shown that bonobos combine their calls into complex sound sequences that resemble combinations of human words.
This content was published on
US parliamentarians have threatened the UN Human Rights Council with sanctions similar to those against the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This content was published on
Thanks to abundant snowfall, lift operators benefited from increased visitor numbers, with the number of guests jumping by 12% year-on-year.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.