Nomen Omen

The right to a name belongs today fully to the catalog of personality rights. As such, it is not only an identifying instrument of the person, but also an essential and indispensable part of his identity. As a fundamental right, the name is the object of protection by various legal instruments which, for example, recognize the right of every person to be given a name and to be able to preserve the identity thus constituted throughout it for life. Precisely because of its significance, the name is often also the object of conflicting interests that cannot always be reconciled, outlining questions of considerable legal interest; think of the question from the attribution of a proper name not corresponding to sex, to the attribution of ridiculous or shameful proper names, or to the age-old question of the transmission of the maternal surname, on which Italy represents the “black jersey” of the ‘European Union.