Application of G and A [2006] NSWSC 1071

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Application of G and A [2006] NSWSC 1071

HEARING DATE(S) : Application in Chambers

JUDGMENT DATE : 11 October 2006

JURISDICTION : Equity Adoptions List

JUDGMENT OF : Campbell J

DECISION : Change of name approved

CATCHWORDS : FAMILY LAW AND CHILD WELFARE - adoption - name of child - change of name of child

CASES CITED : Application of O and P [2005] NSWSC 1297; (2005) 34 Fam LR 385

PARTIES : Undisclosed

FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 97/06

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES EQUITY DIVISION ADOPTIONS LIST

CAMPBELL J

11 OCTOBER 2006

97/06 APPLICATION OF "G" AND "A" JUDGMENT 1 HIS HONOUR: This is an application to approve the adoption of a Korean boy now aged two and a half. The only contentious issue concerns the child's name. 2 When the child was born he was given three Korean names. In accordance with the usual Korean convention, his Korean surname came first, and was followed by two Korean personal names. The applicants wish to alter his name in three respects:

(a) by moving his Korean surname so that it becomes the third of his Korean names,

(b) by adding their own surname at the end of his name, and

(c) adding at the beginning of his name an Anglo Celtic personal name. 3 The Department opposes this name change, in part. It has no objection to the applicants' surname being added at the end of the name. It says, however, that the Korean surname of the child should be dropped altogether, and that, while it would not object to the Anglo Celtic personal name being added, that Anglo Celtic personal name should appear as the third of the personal names of the child, not the first. 4 The applicants have two other children, who were adopted from Korea, and who have been given Anglo Celtic first names. They want the same naming pattern to apply to this child, "to ensure he does not feel diminished within our family". They do not want to remove his Korean surname, on the ground that "we do not wish to remove any of [X's] Korean birth names as these were given to him by his birth mother and we feel that his heritage is equally important and should also not be diminished." 5 The child has been in the custody of the applicants since he was six and a half months old. He has been referred to by the Anglo Celtic name they wish to give him since then. He responds to that name. 6 As well, the first of the child's Korean forenames is a name which, phonetically, is recognised as a female name in Australia. 7 I set out the principles relevant to this sort of problem in Application of O and P [2005] NSWSC 1297; (2005) 34 Fam LR 385. Applying those principles, I am satisfied that there are special reasons, related to the best interests of the child, for approving a change in his given name, in the fashion requested by the applicants. **********