South Africa’s Constitutional Court Strikes Down Gender-Biased Naming Law

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has struck down a law preventing men from taking their wives’ surnames, ruling it unconstitutional and a violation of gender equality.

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has struck down a law that prevented men from adopting their wives’ surnames, declaring it discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The case was brought by two couples—Henry van der Merwe and Jana Jordaan, and Andreas Nicolas Bornman and Jess Donnelly-Bornman—who argued that the law violated their constitutional right to equality. Van der Merwe had been denied the right to take his wife’s surname, while Bornman could not legally hyphenate his surname to include that of his spouse.

The Constitutional Court’s decision now compels Parliament to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act and its associated regulations to allow men the same choice in adopting or combining surnames as women. Legal experts have hailed the ruling as a significant step towards dismantling patriarchal naming traditions in the country.

The Free State Society of Advocates had supported the couples, arguing that the law perpetuated harmful stereotypes by restricting men’s choice in matters of personal identity. The organisation said such restrictions reinforced outdated notions of male authority and female subordination.

Neither the Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, nor the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mamoloko Kubayi, opposed the case, allowing the Constitutional Court to rule without governmental resistance.

The ruling is being celebrated by human rights advocates and equality campaigners as a symbolic victory, underscoring that the principles of equality and personal freedom must extend to every facet of life—even one as seemingly simple as a surname.

As South Africa continues to confront its complex social and historical legacies, this decision marks a meaningful stride in the broader fight for gender parity and the protection of individual rights.