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Contra Costa Superior Court grants Mayor Thorpe's petition to change his name to " Lamar A. Hernandez-Thorpe."
In 1981, Mayor Hernandez-Thorpe was born in prison to a mother addicted to heroin. At two days old, he was placed in foster care and raised by Mexican immigrants in East Los Angeles. As a result, his first language is Spanish. His parents gave birth to two biological children and, as foster parents, adopted several others, all sharing their last name, "Hernandez."
Mayor Hernandez-Thorpe's parents fought to adopt him legally but failed as his biological mother retained her parental rights. While Mayor Hernandez-Thorpe is proud of his African American family and heritage, he is equally proud of his Mexican heritage instilled by his parents, the Hernandez's. In March of 2023, Mayor Hernandez-Thorpe announced that he would petition to change his name to "Hernandez-Thorpe." Two days later, his father, Guillermo Hernandez, passed away from prostate cancer.
While the process was emotionally difficult for Mayor Hernandez-Thorpe, on Monday, January 22, 2024, Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Virginia M. George granted his petition to change his name to "Lamar Anthony Hernandez-Thorpe" to honor his Mexican parents who raised him.
-Office of the Mayor