Information Note on the Court’s case-law 189
October 2015
Macalin Moxamed Sed Dahir v. Switzerland (dec.) - 12209/10
Decision 15.9.2015 [Section II]
Article 8
Article 8-1
Respect for private life
Refusal to permit change of name with pejorative connotations if mispronounced: inadmissible
Facts – The applicant, of Somali origin, had been living in Switzerland since 1997. She got married in 2003. In 2005 she requested permission to add her maiden name to her husband’s surname and her request was granted. However, when the applicant’s maiden name is pronounced according to the rules of “Western” pronunciation, it takes on a disparaging or even humiliating meaning in Somali: “macalin” meaning “rotten skin” and “moxamed” meaning “toilets”. In 2008 the applicant asked for the spelling of her name to be changed so that it would be pronounced properly. The national authorities refused on account of the importance in Switzerland of the uniformity of surnames and the fact that the erroneous pronunciation did not produce a disparaging meaning in any of the Swiss national languages.
Law
Article 8: It was in the public interest to guarantee the stability of a person’s surname to ensure legal certainty in social relations. Names played a decisive role for the identification of individuals. The applicant had not sought to replace the old spelling of her na
