The surname of married woman in Turkish law

Abstract

Turkey was one of the first countries to grant women the right to vote and stand for election in 1934. Although this was a significant step towards gender equality, similar progress regarding a woman’s surname, which constitutes a fundamental aspect of personal identity, was delayed for many years. The Turkish Civil Code contained numerous provisions emphasizing gender equality; however, it also included a regulation concerning the surname of married women which as inconsistent with the principle of equality. Due to this regulation, a married woman was not allowed to retain her birth surname independently. She was required to either bear only her husband's surname or bear her maiden name before her husband's surname. For many years, married women engaged in legal struggles to reclaim the right to use their maiden surnames. As a result of these efforts, the Constitutional Court of Türkiye annulled Article 187 of the Turkish Civil Code in 2023, which had previously given precedence to the husband's surname. This study examines the judicial processes concerning the surname of married women and analyzes the new legal developments following the annulment decision of the Constitutional Court of Türkiye.