The legislature’s latest amendment to the Name Act (姓名條例) has led to an increase in the number of name change applications, local household registration offices said.
The Name Act was first amended in June 2001 to allow people to change their name twice — from once previously — if their first name contains a vulgar or “unrefined” meaning, or for a special reason.
The legislature also recently amended the act to allow children to take their mother’s surname.
In 2000, 170 people applied to have their name changed at the household registration office in Gongguan (公館) in Miaoli County.
In 2002, that number increased to 230.
Data from the Ministry of the Interior showed that 3,112 Miaoli County residents applied for a name change last year, while the number of applications nationwide was 138,133.
Most applications were to change a first name, which has also resulted in good business for fortune tellers.
Gongguan household registration office officials said that while most applications are to change names that are very common, such as Ya-chun (雅君), Ya-wen (雅雯) or Yi-ting (怡婷), some applications are for “unrefined” names, such as Chiao-lan (嬌蘭), which, if read backwards and in Taiwanese, means “male genitals.”
Many people also change their name because of their profession, when they encounter difficulties in their lives, or because they are unlucky and a fortune teller told them to change their name, the officials said, adding that such name changes tend to increase in times of economic hardship.
Many young people also want to change their name to get a more unusual or more romantic name, the officials said.
Names suggested by fortune tellers often include uncommon characters that the person handling the name change request does not recognize, such as li (秝), mi (銤) or zhuan (嫥).
In some cases, people are unhappy with their new names or feel that it didn’t change their lives and therefore go back to their original names.
There have been examples of people still being unhappy even after having changed their name twice, but by this point they have used up all their opportunities to change their name and have to stick with the name they have, household registration office staffers said.
The Name Act, however, allows a few exceptions to the rule if, under certain circumstances, there are other people with an identical name.
Noting that changing one’s name is an arduous task that involves changing one’s bank account, health insurance card, driver’s license, ID card and so on, Gongguan household registration office chief Chang Yu-li (張玉麗) said people considering a name change should think twice before submitting their application.
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