First Name Game: Minister of Culture Wants Control of Children's Names in Hungary
- 22 May 2025 4:15 PM
- Hungary Around the Clock
Fidesz MP Lajos Kósa has proposed shifting authority over first name approvals from the Research Institute for Linguistics to the Minister of Culture. Currently, the institute’s 'First Name Committee' rules on unique name requests, recently approving such names as Legolász and Pannilia.
Anyone who wants to give their child a unique name that has not been previously registered in Hungary must submit an application to the above-mentioned institute, whose First Name Committee decides whether the given name can be registered.
Kósa criticised the recent approval of the names Legolász, Kandida, and Orália, and complained that many popular names lack Hungarian roots.
He also noted that 220 approved names have never been used.
Under the proposed amendment, the culture minister would finalise the list of approved names by decree, based on expert input.
Approved names would be published in the Hungarian Gazette, not on the institute’s website.
The bill would also restrict pen names adopted by authors to those from Hungarian or European naming traditions, limiting fantasy-inspired names.
Nationality-specific names not on official registers would require approval from the respective minority authorities.
The institute ruled on 469 requests last year, approving, among others, the names Emilin, Ájlá, Tiágó, and Korbin.
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