You Can’t Use Accent Marks on California Birth Certificates (Yet)

A birth certificate is a person’s first official document. But in California, a 30-year-old rule prohibits the use of diacritical marks -- like tildes and accents -- on birth certificates.

Parents Nancy Chaires Espinoza and Pablo Espinoza found out about the rule firsthand when trying to name their now 9-month-old son.

"His full name is Nicolás Agustín Espinoza Chaires," Nancy says.

Nancy, a lobbyist in Sacramento, says she and Pablo, who works in the Assembly speaker's office, named Nicolás after two saints. But when they tried to get his birth certificate, they were told they couldn't use the proper pronunciation marks.

"It was pretty upsetting to us when we found out that we couldn't give him the names that we had selected for him," Nancy says.

The California rule dates back to 1986 when voters passed Proposition 63, declaring English the official language of California. The state's Office of Vital Records: Birth and Death Registration Handbook points to that proposition when listing unacceptable diacritical marks.

Now, Assembly Bill 82 makes it clear that diacritical marks can be used on marriage licenses and birth and death certificates.

As it’s currently written, the bill would not apply retroactively to babies like Nicolás. But dad Pablo hopes that changes.

"I should be able to name my child Nicolás because that means a lot to me, because that’s our choice, because that represents a lot of cultural heritage and because that’s his name," Pablo says.

The County Recorders’ Association of California and the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials currently oppose the bill. They say it would cost counties too much to update their systems to include diacritical marks. The author of the bill says he'll work with them moving forward.