개명(改名) 제도에 관한 소고

Abstract

The primary way to make one’s identity known in a society is through his/her name. Usually, the person's name, combined with his/her character, is the substantial factor in identifying himself/herself and making relationships with the people around him/her or surrounding societies. In Korea, the cases for legally changing his/her names have been rapidly increasing in the past decades. This phenomenon was caused by the fact that the court changed its position and now approves the application for name change based upon the protection of the naming right. Under the Korean law, approval by the court shall be granted for the change of name, only when the application satisfies both requirements: reasonable grounds for changing names and without risk of concealing identity or avoiding repayment of debt. However, the court has been reluctant to restrict the approvals since its above mentioned change in position, and has been approving unreasonable applications, such as those based upon the superstition that one’s destiny can be changed with the change in name. If the court still maintains its position and remains reluctant to control the change of names, rather than requiring approval from court to change names, it would be better to require a report to an administrative registry, just as in countries like Canada. But if it is still believed to be necessary to control the unreasonable change of names with the justification of preventing confusion which arises from recognitions and relations of the people related to the applicant, it shall be required to necessitate detailed and reasonable causes for the name change, and be clear and explicit regarding requirements for each causes.