When reading about Noomi Rapace on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noomi_Rapace#Personal_life) I noticed that
> Upon marrying, the couple decided to use the surname Rapace, meaning “bird of prey” both in French and Italian, because it sounded “cool”.
Is this something that is allowed “by default” by the law (as one of the possible choices when marrying (name of one of the spouses, or a hyphenated version – which is also typical for other European countries)), or did they go though a specific legal process to change their surnames?
6 comments
no you can choose either yours or the partners name, or a brand new unrelated
You can change both your first and last name (to essentially anything that isn’t blacklisted or too long) with some paperwork I know several people that changed both.
You can change your surname/first name whenever you want for a fee, if you are of legal age. The only real requirement is that it’s approved by the government (You can’t use certain words, titles, specific surnames belonging to nobility and so on).
I believe there might also be some restrictions on how often you can change.
The same rules apply when you marry, except that there’s no extra fee (as far as I know) and you also have the
option to use dual (or hyphenated) surnames.
Well honestly you can apply to change you last name with the Swedish tax Agency any time you want, not just when you get married. It you marry you can take the family name of your spouse, hypenate as you wish or choose a new one for the both of you. Just note that the last name needs to be brand new (as in no one has the name in Sweden) or a name that is worn by more then 2000 people. If less people then that wear the name it is protected and you can not use it unless you or your partner has that name in your recent family history.
My friends married and picked a new surname. No beef with their family or anything, they just wanted a name for them and their future family rather than their previous surnames.
Its not that uncommon actually! Its useful to have unique surname.
Swedes like the rest of the germanic people are a bit systematic and ”anal”.