If you have had a child, you must inform the relevant registry office and submit the required documents.
The registry office in whose jurisdiction the child was born is responsible.
If your child was born in a hospital or birthing center, the birth will be reported to the registry office by these facilities. In the case of a home birth, you will receive a birth certificate, which you must hand in personally at your local registry office.
Further information and documents required for the birth to be certified must be submitted to the relevant registry office in addition to the birth notification if these cannot be taken from registers to which the registry office has access.

The registry office keeps a register of births in which the following entries are made:

• The child's first names and maiden name
• Place, day, hour and minute of birth
• The sex of the child
• The first names and surnames of the parents, their gender.

Choice of the child's first name:
As the custodian, you are free to choose the child's first name. Chosen first names must not be contrary to the child's best interests. Names that are not essentially first names may not be chosen. Several first names can be combined into one first name. Such a combination should not contain more than one hyphen.

Choice of the child's birth name:
If you have a joint married name, the child will be given this as its birth name.
If you as parents do not have a married name and you have joint custody, you can declare to the registry office that the name used by the father or mother at the time of the declaration will be the child's birth name. A declaration made after the birth has been certified must be notarized. If you have chosen a birth name for your child, this will also apply to other children.

The custodial parents can decide vis-à-vis the registry office that a child should be given the surname

• according to the law of a country to which one of the parents belongs,
• according to German law, if one parent has their habitual residence in Germany
• according to the law of the country to which a person granting the name belongs.