Nearly 150,000 people have changed their last name since the procedure was simplified in July 2022

A popular approach. The possibility of changing one’s last name has been used by nearly 150,000 people since July 2022, according to an INSEE study published Thursday April 25. For two years, the Vignal law has made the procedure for changing your last name easier. It allows you to substitute the name of your other parent or add the name of the second parent to the first, without having to justify yourself.

Between August 1, 2022 and December 31, 2023, 144,100 people have “changed name substantially”by adding or removing a noun or substituting one noun with another, reveals the‘The national institute of statistics and economic studies. This is three times more than the 44,000 recorded between March 2021 and July 2022, before the law came into force.

“The law responded to a request”

Before July 2022, it was necessary to invoke a “legitimate reason” to change your last name. For example, it could be a name that was difficult to bear, or a surname that was at risk of extinction. Since then, a simple form submitted to the town hall is sufficient, without having to justify. “The tripling shows that the law responded to a request. People were waiting and were able to satisfy their wish”according to Lionel Espinasse, the author of the study.

INSEE analyzed data from the national identification directory of natural persons, without being able to question people about their motivations. The study reveals that the approach was undertaken by relatively young people: half are between 18 and 29 years old and a quarter between 30 and 39 years old. More women (57%) than men have taken the step. In two thirds of cases, the person replaced the name of one parent with the name of the other. Some 30,700 people added a second name to the initial name.