infant in mother's arms
Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton
January 17, 2024 ·  3 min read

This Couple Can’t Get Their Son’s Birth Certificate Because He Has 18 Names

Shortly after their child is born, most parents successfully apply for their birth certificate. This is a very important document because it gives the child access to critical aspects of society, such as medical or child care. This couple, however, is having a tough time getting their child’s. Why? Because their son has 18 names. (1)

Indonesian Civil Registry Won’t Give Birth Certificate To Child With 18 Names

For the last three years, Arif Akbar and Suci Nur Aisyah from East Java, Indonesia, have been trying to obtain their son’s birth certificate. The local civil registry, however, won’t grant it to them. Why? Because their son’s name goes over the character limit by 77 characters. This is because their son has 18 names. (2)

The three-year-old’s name is Rangga Madhipa Sutra Jiwa Cordosega Akre Askhala Mughal Ilkhanat Akbar Sahara Pi-Thariq Ziyad Syaifudin Quthuz Khoshala Sura Talenta. Most people call him Cordo, for short. After pleading with the civil registry for three years, the parents have finally decided to go a different route. In a Facebook post, they requested the help of the Indonesian President Joko Widodo to finally get Cordo’s certificate. 

“It’s true, we have sent an open letter to the President. One of them is through personal FB. We have taken care of the deed three years ago, but it went wrong,” Akbar confirmed.

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An Adjustment

The couple says that the registry has asked them to change the name of their child so that it will fit with the available character limit. They don’t want to, however, because the child’s name has an important meaning. They say it contains a prayer for the wellbeing of their son’s future.

“I was told to change the name of the child, even though the name was pinned with a prayer for his good. If there was hope, the deed could be processed, because when entering kindergarten a certificate was needed,” the father said.

As mentioned already, the document is quite important. Without it, their child will be unable to enter school. Despite this, they don’t want to bend for the sake of the registry’s rules. A spokesperson for the registry, however, says that they didn’t ask for the name to be changed, just adjusted. (3)

“We do not ask the applicant to change the name, but adjust the available characters,” they explained.

There are many other reasons that the registry also says are good reasons for the couple to adjust their child’s name. This won’t be the first difficulty they will have in obtaining official documents with a child’s name that is this long.

“It would be difficult for both the children and us when they’re dealing with administrative matters in the future. The name may have profound meanings, but it won’t fit in the papers. As a result, it has to be shortened. The problem is that sometimes, the parents would complain if we do so,” they explained.

It’s Been Done Before

The couple claims that one of their reasons for not budging is because they know of people with names over the character limit who have birth certificates. They say that these people had 17 names and were still able to have their child’s full name printed on the certificate.

“We have difficulty taking care of children’s certificates. We have been taking care of them for about three years but we can’t. Even though we have seen in other areas there are 17 words,” said the parents.

In August 2020, a couple from West Java successfully got their daughter’s full 17 names on her birth certificate. (4) Another family, however, wasn’t so lucky. Their daughter, whose given name at birth was also 17 names long, was denied. The parent’s changed her name simply to “Y” so that they could obtain her certificate. (5)

Currently, it is not yet known if Cordo’s parents’ plea to the Indonesian president was successful. We wish them and the child luck with whatever the outcome of this problem is.

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Sources

  1. “Nama Anak Terlalu Panjang Hingga Kesulitan Membuat Akta, Orang Tua di Tuban Kirim Surat ke Presiden” Suryabaya Tribun News. October 4th, 2021.
  2. “VIRAL Pengurusan Akta Nama Anak yang Panjang Dikeluhkan Orangtua, Dinas Dukcapil Tuban Angkat Bicara. Madura Tribu News. October 4th, 2021.
  3. Viral Nama Unik hingga 50 Karakter Tertulis di Kartu Keluarga, Bikin Heran.” Sumsel
  4. Y ternyata punya nama panjang hingga 16 kata.” Merdeka. Kresna September 8, 2015.