New name if you take French citizenship
People taking French citizenship will be given a new French first name “to show they really want to be French” under a proposal by a right-wing MP.
Although new citizens can already adopt a French name if they wish, Vaucluse MP Julien Aubert (Les Républicains) wants it to be obligatory.
He said: “It is a small thing people can do to show they really want to be French.
“If, for example, your name is John Smith and you add Jean-Paul to your name, when you are looking for work or to rent a flat you can use Jean-Paul to show you really are French.
“It will make integration easier.”
Making his call in a booklet titled Livret tricolore sur les Islam(s) de France, Mr Aubert said the names would be chosen from a list based on French history and the old compulsory names related to Catholic saints.
Far right groups, especially the Front National, now renamed Rassemblement National, have long called for compulsory name changing after naturalisation, even though one of the first names of leader Marine Le Pen, Perrine, is not on any official list.
She told journalists: “We have been saying it for years, and now the Républicains are saying it, just as they are stealing our other good ideas.”
Mr Aubert admitted he would have a hard time convincing parliament.
“People are so fixed on multicultural society being good, and of the rights of the individual, that they are shocked at the state imposing a name on people when naturalised,” he said.
“But it fits in with French tradition – until 1993, the state could impose a first name on you if your parents did not choose one from an accepted list.
“I think people will be happy to have a new first name given to them.”
