Facts
On August 17, 1980, father T. reported the birth of his son to the Civil Registry Office of the City of Zurich and named the child's four first names as Florio, Wiesengrund, Walter, Tibor. However, the Zurich Civil Registry Office rejected the registration of "Wiesengrund" as a first name. The parents then filed a complaint with the Directorate of the Interior of the Canton of Zurich, which dismissed the complaint by order dated October 6, 1980. Against this decision of the cantonal supervisory authority, the parents filed an administrative court appeal with the Federal Supreme Court, requesting that "Wiesengrund" be registered as a first name of their son in the civil registry.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that the right of parents under Art. 301 para. 4 of the Swiss Civil Code to freely choose the first name of their child is limited by Art. 69 para. 2 of the Civil Status Ordinance. Accordingly, civil status officials must reject first names that obviously violate the interests of the child or third parties, in particular offensive or nonsensical first names.
With regard to the first name "Wiesengrund", the Federal Supreme Court concludes that this is primarily a generic term and is not recognized as a first name. Therefore, the registration of this name…