Egypt’s Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly has recently announced that the government is considering adding the mother’s name to the national ID card — one of the most widely used official documents in the country.
The announcement has sparked widespread public debate about identity, privacy, and gender equality.
The potential policy shift follows years of demands from activists, citizens and legal professionals who have long called for mothers to be given the same recognition as fathers in government records.
Currently, the Egyptian national ID includes the father’s name, but omits the mother’s- though they are included in birth certificates and other documents.
Advocates of the proposal argue that including a mother’s name would help reduce cases of mistaken identity, which often lead to wrongful detentions, delays in bureaucratic processes, or even inheritance disputes.
Shabaan Saeed, a prominent lawyer, welcomed the proposal.
“This is a good decision and will ease the burden on citizens who face legal troubles simply due to having the same name as someone on a wanted list,” he said.
The inclusion of a mother’s name could streamline airport procedures, simplify bank transactions, and clarify inheritance records – where misidentification due to identical names has often complicated legal processes, Saeed added.
However, the announcement has not received universal praise.
Critics argue that the move may be more symbolic than practical, especially in light of Egypt’s ongoing digital transformation.
Some legal experts suggested that rather than amending the physical ID card, the government should focus on improving its digital infrastructure.
“Every national ID already contains a barcode that includes the citizen’s full data, including the mother’s name,” lawyer Mahmoud Abul-Naga said.
“Instead of relying on paper-based solutions that may soon become outdated, we should modernise our systems—just as countries like Saudi Arabia have done with digital identity apps like ‘Absher’” Abul-Naga added.
This sentiment was echoed by others in the legal community who believe that mobile applications and database integration would offer more effective and secure solutions to issues like name duplication and identity fraud.
Beyond the technical debate, the debate has struck a chord on a cultural level.
For many, the exclusion of mothers’ names from official documents is seen as a symbol of systemic gender bias. The potential reform is therefore being lauded by activists as a small but meaningful step towards recognizing women’s roles in family and society.
Professor of Civil Law at Ain Shams University Ezzat Salama took a balanced view. He noted that the mother’s name already appears on every birth certificate, and while adding it to the ID card may not solve the name duplication issue, it could be viewed as a form of social appreciation.
“It’s more of a symbolic gesture to honour women. But it won’t necessarily prevent identical name issues in police records or court document,” Salama said.
Salama also suggested that other data points—like phone numbers or email addresses—could be added to help differentiate identities more efficiently.
One of the more overlooked aspects of the identity debate in Egypt is the lack of a structured surname system, according to Salama.
He stressed the importance of implementing legal reforms to regulate family names, ensuring each family has a unique surname to avoid duplication.
“A comprehensive law to organize surnames would be more impactful than adding the mother’s name,” he said.
“Unique family names could significantly reduce cases of mistaken identity, especially in security and legal contexts,” Salama added.
