When is a name at risk of extinction?

The request for a change of name was based on Article 61 of the Civil Code, which states that the extinction or threat of extinction constitutes a legitimate ground for a change of name. But, in the applicants’ family lineage, the grandmother was the last to bear the name of an illustrious ancestor. The Minister of Justice had issued an order authorizing the name change in view of its extinction in this branch of the family.

But cousins of the plaintiffs challenged this decision. The latter, also descendants of the illustrious ancestor (to the same degree as the applicants), still bore the name at issue. In a ruling dated January 25, 2023, the Conseil d’État upheld their appeal after this simple finding that in the offspring of the illustrious ancestor, the name was not extinguished or threatened with extinction.