If you have not yet chosen a joint surname when you get married/establish a civil partnership, you can do so at a later date. There is no time limit for submitting a subsequent declaration of a joint surname. The Marriage/Documents department at the Bonn registry office is responsible for this.

The need for a subsequent declaration also arises in the case of a marriage abroad, as the surname of the German spouse does not change as long as no declaration of the married name is made that is effective under German law.

Due to the large number of conceivable constellations, it is not possible to go into details here. In such cases, we recommend that you contact the relevant German diplomatic mission abroad or the local registry office.

On 01.05.2025, the law amending the law on married names and birth names and the international law on names will come into force. Information on this can be found here:  Names after the wedding (opens in a new tab)