Why a deed poll does not cover it#
A deed poll records a change of name, and a title is not a name. Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Mx, Dr and the rest are forms of address that organisations attach to a name on their records, which is why GOV.UK lists changing a title among the things a deed poll cannot do.
How you change one#
You tell the organisation. A bank, an employer, a utility or a GP surgery changes the title on your record when you ask, though some want evidence for a professional or inherited title: HSBC, for example, asks for proof of a doctorate before it records Dr. DVLA's guidance says the process for changing a title on a driving licence, for example from Ms to Dr, is the same as for a change of name, and that you do not need to send evidence unless it is a hereditary title. GOV.UK says you do not need a new passport to change your title: a British passport does not print Mr, Mrs, Ms or Mx, professional titles and honours can be added to its observations page, and a title of nobility counts as part of the name (Mx and other gender-neutral titles).
Titles you have to have earned#
Calling yourself Dr, Reverend or Captain when you hold no such qualification or rank is not a change of title an organisation should accept, and a name that implies a rank or qualification you do not hold is one we will not draft in a deed poll either. Will my new name be accepted? flags a title typed as a first name.
Can I call myself Lord or Lady?#
Not on a passport, if the title came with a souvenir plot of land. HM Passport Office's guidance to its staff on titles says that buying a small piece of land, usually online, does not entitle anyone to use the title of the land, and that such a title must not be included in a passport. Titles people have simply given themselves are treated the same way.
A manorial title, such as Lord of the Manor, is different. The guidance says it is not a title of nobility but can be bought and sold with the property it belongs to, and that with documentary evidence the passport office may add an observation saying the holder is the Lord of the Manor of that place, but only where the whole of the land was bought. Peerages, the hereditary titles the government recognises, follow rules of their own.
A deed poll does not help with any of these, because it cannot change a title. Nor will we draft "Lord" or "Lady" as a first name for someone who does not hold the title, since a name that implies a rank you do not hold is one we refuse (the rules for a new name).
Mx and gender-neutral titles#
Mx is a title used by people who prefer one that does not state a gender. Like any title it is chosen, not changed by deed poll, and an organisation records it on request; most large organisations' systems now offer it. If you are changing your name at the same time, do both in one letter.
