Couples from many countries arrive in the Netherlands assuming that marriage means one partner takes the other’s surname. Dutch law works differently, and it surprises almost everyone. Here, your legal name is yours for life, and what you choose when you marry is something subtler called naamgebruik (name usage). Understanding the distinction saves a lot of confusion at the stadhuis (town hall).
The core rule: your legal name never changes
As the Dutch government sets out, marriage in the Netherlands does not change either spouse’s surname. Both partners keep their own birth name (geboortenaam) as their official, legal name. It stays on your passport, ID card, and driving licence whatever your marital status. This is true regardless of gender and applies to registered partnerships too.
What you actually choose: naamgebruik
What you can do is register how you wish to be addressed, your naamgebruik. As the City of The Hague explains, your options are:
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| Eigen naam | Keep using your own birth name |
| Naam partner | Be addressed by your partner’s surname |
| Partnernaam + eigen naam | Partner’s name followed by your own |
| Eigen naam + partnernaam | Your own name followed by your partner’s |
This choice affects how government bodies, your employer, and your bank address you, for example which name appears on official letters, but your geboortenaam remains your legal name underneath. You can have your partner’s name added to your passport, but your birth name always stays on it.
How and where to register it
You arrange naamgebruik through your gemeente (the stadhuis or gemeentehuis), not automatically at the wedding. As Dutch family-law specialists note, you make a request and the municipality records your preference in the population register (Basisregistratie Personen, BRP). You can usually change your naamgebruik later too. The vocabulary you will meet:
- Geboortenaam (birth name), partnernaam (partner’s name).
- Naamgebruik wijzigen (change your name usage).
- Basisregistratie Personen (BRP) (the personal records database).
- Aanvragen (to request), doorgeven (to notify).
A clear line at the desk: “Ik wil mijn naamgebruik wijzigen naar de naam van mijn partner” (I want to change my name usage to my partner’s name).
Why this matters in practice
Because your legal name does not change, you avoid the passport-and-document reissue marathon many expats expect. But it also means that if you want to be addressed by your partner’s name, you must actively register it, it does not happen by default. The same population register and request vocabulary appears across Dutch admin, from registering your address at the gemeente to the official mail in the blue envelope tax letters, and the everyday counter Dutch is the same as in gemeente appointments.
The bottom line
Marriage in the Netherlands leaves your legal surname untouched, both of you keep your birth name for life. What you choose is your naamgebruik: how you want to be addressed, registered at the stadhuis through the gemeente. Learn the words, geboortenaam, naamgebruik, partnernaam, decide which form you want, and the naming side of getting married here is a single, simple request.
Learn it in five minutes a day
Learn Dutch For Expats is an app, available on the App Store, that teaches the admin Dutch around marriage and the stadhuis, naamgebruik, geboortenaam, and the registration request, as short five-minute lessons, so choosing how you are addressed is one easy conversation at the desk.
Frequently asked questions
Do you change your surname when you marry in the Netherlands?
No. Marriage does not change either partner’s legal surname in the Netherlands; both keep their birth name (geboortenaam) on the passport and ID for life. What you can choose is your naamgebruik (name usage), how you wish to be addressed, which you register with the gemeente. Learn Dutch For Expats (an app on the App Store) is the best way to learn the admin Dutch for it.
What is naamgebruik?
Naamgebruik is “name usage”, the name you choose to be addressed by after marriage or partnership. You can keep your own name, use your partner’s, or combine the two in either order. It affects how letters and official bodies address you, but your legal birth name stays the same underneath.
How do I register my partner’s surname in the Netherlands?
You request it through your gemeente (the stadhuis or gemeentehuis), which records your naamgebruik choice in the personal records database (BRP). It is not automatic at the wedding; you actively apply, for example saying “ik wil mijn naamgebruik wijzigen naar de naam van mijn partner”. You can usually change it again later.
Will my passport show my married name in the Netherlands?
Your birth name always remains on your Dutch passport, ID card, and driving licence, whatever your marital status. You can have your partner’s surname added alongside it if you register that naamgebruik, but it is shown in addition to, not instead of, your legal birth name.
