Marriage remains the most common and simplest lawful occasion for changing a surname, and divorce the route back. Two things matter: the married name can only be formed from the spouses’ own names, and after divorce nothing changes by itself — a declaration is required.
Names through marriage and after divorce
Marriage is the most common lawful occasion to change a surname. The choice is made at the wedding but is not final: after divorce a former name can be reclaimed by declaration.
✓ Verified: 15/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
AUTHORITY
Standesamt
Municipal authorityMarriage, birth and death certificates, and leaving the church (in most states) all go through your town's Standesamt — often in the same Bürgerbüro.
Where to go in your city →› Details and tips
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Max recommends:
We both kept our own names and never regretted it: not a single document had to be rewritten, and while travelling it was rather convenient.
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Lea recommends:
If you plan to reclaim your former name after divorce, do it before updating the rest of your papers. Otherwise you go round the whole circuit twice.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Must spouses share one surname? ▾
No. The law permits both a common married name and keeping your existing names. The married name is chosen from the spouses’ own names, and whoever’s name does not become the married one may add theirs to it.
Does my name change automatically after divorce? ▾
No. The married name remains yours after the marriage ends. You reclaim a former name by declaration at the registry office, and the law sets no time limit — it can be done years later.
Can we choose an entirely new surname on marrying? ▾
No. The married name is formed from the spouses’ existing names. A freely chosen name is not available through marriage — that is what the separate name-change procedure exists for.
What about the children? ▾
Children take the married name where there is one. Where there is none, the parents determine the child’s name separately. A later change to a parent’s name does not extend to the child by itself.