Transliteration of Foreign Surnames into Latvian Causes Dissatisfaction

In today's dynamic and globalized world, where borders between countries become increasingly blurred and Latvians form families with citizens of other nations, travel, and live around the globe, the transmission and writing of surnames has become an issue that can cause numerous problems. When dealing with the Latvian system of rendering personal names and surnames, many find themselves in an unexpected and sometimes absurd situation: in a family that theoretically should share the same surname, each member ends up with a different version recorded in their documents, as reported by Latvian Radio's program "Global Latvian. 21st Century."

The problem is particularly relevant as Latvia integrates into the international community. The current system often fails to preserve the original spelling of foreign surnames, instead attempting to adapt them to Latvian phonetics and grammar. Consequently, the same family may encounter bureaucratic obstacles, for example, when a child's surname differs from that of their parents.

The program's creators point out that such situations lead to dissatisfaction and make people question the existing transliteration norms. Although official guidelines exist, they are not always flexible or adapted to today's diverse society. The question is to what extent the state should respect the original form of personal names while maintaining Latvian language traditions.