The original spelling of names and surnames – ”To be or not to be…”

The aim of today’s sitting of the Committee on Education, Science and Culture and the Lithuanian Seimas was to examine a draft Law on the spelling of names and surnames in documents. Among the participants there were also representatives from the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language.

The chairperson of the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language, Daiva Vaišnienė, introduced conclusions and comments on two drafts of law.

It is worth reminding that at the request of Seimas, on the 5th July 2014, the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language, allowed for the original spelling of non-Lithuanian names in passport only for a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania, who adopted the non-Lithuanian name of a foreign spouse after marriage, or in the case of a citizen of a different country, who obtained the Lithuanian citizenship.

The draft registered by Social Democrats, Gediminas Kirkilas and Irena Šiaulienė, provides original spelling of the surnames on the main page of the passport, using the non-Lithuanian characters of the Latin alphabet. An alternative project, is also elaborated by the Valentinas Stundys, deputy of the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats, according to which original surname spelling could be allowed only on the additional page of the identity document.

The next sitting on the spelling of names and surnames in official documents will take place in two weeks’ time (the 26th of November).