A court in Lorient authorizes the use of the tilde (~) for a Breton first name

A civil chamber of the Lorient court ruled on Monday in favor of the use of the tilde (~) in the Breton first name Fañch, which had been rejected by the Lorient public prosecutor's office, we learned from the family's lawyer. This court decision thus cancels the rectification of the civil status of the child born in June 2023. At that date, the mayor of Lorient, Fabrice Loher, had nevertheless validated the registration of this diacritic mark above the "n" in the civil status.

But in September of the same year, the public prosecutor of Lorient, Stéphane Kellenberger, had it removed, citing a 2014 circular that did not provide for the use of the tilde. According to Me Iannis Alvarez, lawyer for the boy's parents who had filed the appeal, "this decision recognizes the full choice of the parents in incorporating a tilde or not." "This tilde is not contrary to the child's interest or to the use of the French language," added Me Alvarez.

The first name Fañch (François in French) has, on several occasions, provoked legal proceedings for this legally undesirable tilde. Each time, the courts had validated the use of this sign which "is not unknown to the French language" as the Rennes Court of Appeal pointed out in November 2018. But despite recurring promises, the ministerial circular of 2014, invoked by the public prosecutor, listing the signs authorized on certain letters (accents, diaeresis, cedilla... but not the tilde) has never been modified and the problem remains.

On Thursday, the Angers Court of Appeal is due to rule on a similar case, where the first name Fañch was given to a baby born in July 2023 in Angers. The Angers public prosecutor's office had asked the family court judge to order the removal of the first name Fañch from the birth certificate and "to give the child another first name with the parents' consent or, failing that, without their consent" . The parents had appealed.