Conservatives propose Lithuanian-adapted names as official entries

Lithuanian Conservative MPs have proposed making Lithuanian-adapted versions of names the primary entries in official documents, with the original forms added on request. LRT reported on the proposal in an article by ELTA journalist Jadvyga Bieliavska.

Seimas members Valdas Rakutis and Audronius Ažubalis, of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) parliamentary group, registered the bill ahead of an autumn session expected to consider other proposals on writing names in documents, put forward by MPs Rita Tamašunienė and Laurynas Šedvydys.

Under the proposal, the original form of a person’s name could appear in the additional-information section of a passport or on the reverse of an identity card. The additional entry would not be treated as the primary entry in the state language or change the Lithuanian-adapted form used by public institutions.

The bill would also apply Lithuanian-adapted spellings, based on source documents and Lithuanian name-formation rules, to Lithuanian citizens who take a foreign spouse’s surname, as well as to residents of non-Lithuanian ethnicity and their children.

The MPs say the government should set procedures for forming Lithuanian-adapted names, recognising source documents, transliterating or transcribing names into the Latin script, and providing additional entries. They argue the model would establish a consistent approach for names originally written in Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Georgian, Indian, Chinese and other non-Latin scripts.

The MPs say similar proposals have been made before but did not win Seimas approval. Current law generally requires Lithuanian citizens’ names to be written in Lithuanian letters, while allowing certain names to be written in Latin-based characters without diacritical marks.

A Seimas research unit review of rules in eight countries found that approaches differ, but many address the relationship between the state language, the original form of a name and international identification. In Latvia, the Latvian form is the required primary form in official records and documents, while the original form is supplementary.