Can you put an accent mark on a birth certificate?

Question

If my baby due this week is a girl, her name will be Genevieve. There is an accent over one of the Es, and I am wondering whether I should put it on the birth certificate application or not. Will they honor it if I do? What about the social security card?

Thanks, I have no clue. I have French heritage, but took Spanish instead.

Answer 1

I've seen it done on last names. I would think they would honor it in a first or middle name as well. Congrats! Good luck. Beautiful name you've chosen

Answer 2

I had a baby in April and named her Chloe.  I wanted to put the accent mark over the "e" and they wouldn't let me.  I'm not sure. The nurse told me that the social security admin. wouldn't allow it.  I'm not sure if she's correct though.  I would like to know because if it is acceptable then I would like to add it to my daughter's birth certificate.  Very pretty name that you picked!

Answer 3

I would think so, but I'm not sure.

Will you be pronouncing it as the French do (zhahn-vee-ehv)? I think it's so pretty that way.

Answer 4

You can actually use an exclamation point so I don't see why they wouldn't let you use an accent.  I only know this because a girl I know is going to name her daughter Bailey!......I know ridiculous isn't it.  Good luck

Answer 5

Yes, they will honour it, and it will be the official and legal spelling of your daughter's name. My daughter's name is Zoe with the two dots over the E and we made sure to put it on her birth certificate application. The government honoured it on her birth certificate, and her social insurance card. The only place it wasn't honoured was on her health insurance card, which is provincial, but everything federal had honoured the accent.

Answer 6

I believe so, I have a friend who's middle name is Nicole, with an accent over the E. I believe it is on her birth certificate.

Answer 7

Well you probably shouldn't add it if you're going to pronounce it the English way.

To spell it Geneviève would TELL everyone to pronounce it the French way. If you spell it with the grave accent then pronounce it GEN-e-veev then YOU will be wrong. That is to say, accents are great if you want to know how a word is pronounced but they're not just decoration.

If you want the accent, you have to use the French pronunciation. And you're right to assume that that would take a lot of explaining, unless you move to France.

Answer 8

I would think that they would honor it because that is how you have spelled your daughter's name, they would have to honor it!They may have you spell it out the way you intended for her name to look.