Changing a baby's name after the birth is registered

Can I change my baby's name after registering the birth?#

Sometimes: it depends on which part of the name, and where the birth was registered. In England and Wales the law lets a first name be changed or added within 12 months of the registration, but it has no equivalent for the surname. Scotland and Northern Ireland can record a change of either against the birth entry, each with its own limits. Whatever the register cannot do is done by deed poll, and the birth certificate then stays as it is. The birth certificate checker gives the route for your child in two or three questions.

Changing a first name within 12 months in England and Wales#

Section 13 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 covers a baby whose registered name is changed, or who is given a name after being registered without one, within 12 months of the date the birth was registered. The change is made on a certificate in the form the regulations prescribe: form 3 if the name was given at a baptism, signed by the person who performed it or who keeps the baptism register, or form 4 otherwise, signed by the mother, the father, a guardian or whoever is giving or changing the name. It goes to the register office that holds the birth entry, and the fee is £44.

The entry is not rewritten. The registrar adds the new name in space 17, followed by the surname already registered, and nothing in the original is erased. HM Passport Office's guidance calls this section 17 of the birth certificate: the place that shows first names added, removed or changed in the first 12 months. Full certificates issued afterwards show it, at £12.50 each.

Can I change my baby's surname on the birth certificate?#

In England and Wales, not in the same way. The regulations show why: the name entered in space 17 is followed by the surname recorded at registration, so the 12-month rule never reaches the surname. A correction does not help either, because GOV.UK says corrections put right information that was wrong when the birth was registered and cannot show new information. Changing the name on a birth certificate covers corrections.

A new surname reaches the register only when a birth is re-registered, and that route has narrowed. HM Passport Office's guidance says that since 13 July 2026 the General Register Office (GRO) no longer changes a child's surname when a birth is re-registered because the parents have married or formed a civil partnership; the form for that re-registration now says the surname will be recorded as it already is. The form for adding the father's details, GRO 185, has no box for a new surname either, so ask the register office before relying on it. Where GRO does agree to a change, the guidance limits it to the father's surname, the mother's, a combination of the two, the mother's maiden surname or one that follows a different cultural custom, with everyone with parental responsibility agreeing. Changing a child's surname to the mother's or the father's goes through re-registration in detail.

When a deed poll is the route#

For a new surname at any age, and for a first name after the first 12 months, the route is a deed poll. HM Passport Office's guidance says that where a change of name has not been made through a re-registration, the parents must change the child's name by deed poll, and everyone with parental responsibility must agree. GOV.UK's rule for any child's name is the same, agreement or a court order, and you must try to agree before going to court.

If a parent will not agree, changing a child's surname without the other parent's consent explains the court route. A father who does not have parental responsibility does not have to agree; changing a child's name sets out who has it.

Getting a passport in the new name#

HM Passport Office's guidance notes that one parent's consent is enough to add a name in section 17, so before it issues a child's passport in that name it asks for consent from everyone with parental responsibility and for two documents showing the name in use; Child Benefit records and a medical or health card are among those it accepts. For a name changed by deed poll, GOV.UK asks for the deed poll, at least one document showing the new name in use, such as NHS or Child Benefit records, and written consent from everyone with parental responsibility. For a child the passport itself is £66.50 online.

Scotland#

If the birth was registered in Scotland, National Records of Scotland (NRS) records the change against the birth entry, and its 12 months run from the birth, not the registration. A first name given or changed within 12 months of the birth is recorded on form 21, which must reach NRS within two years of the birth. A new surname can be recorded on form 23 at any time before 16, and the same form covers a first name changed after the first year. A child under 16 can have one change of forename and one of surname recorded. Where both parents have parental responsibilities, both sign, and NRS says that without both signatures the application will not proceed unless it comes with a court order or other supporting documents. It costs £40, plus £10 for each extra family member applying at the same time. NRS aims to reply within 20 days and to confirm the change within 15 working days of payment; the new certificate is ordered separately.

Northern Ireland#

If the birth was registered in Northern Ireland, the General Register Office for Northern Ireland (GRONI) can record one change of forename and one change of surname for a child under 18, under article 37 of the Births and Deaths Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 1976. The form is signed by the qualified applicants, usually both parents, or the mother alone where the father has no parental responsibility, in front of a Justice of the Peace, a lay magistrate or a solicitor. nidirect gives the fee as £35, plus £15 for a certificate showing the change. nidirect also describes re-registering a birth after the parents marry, or to add the father's details, as a way to change a child's name or surname. HM Passport Office's guidance says that from 13 July 2026 GRONI no longer changes a child's name on re-registration after a marriage, so ask GRONI before relying on that route.