Can I change my child's first name?

Can I change my child's first name?#

Yes. How you do it depends on two things: how long ago the birth was registered, and whether everyone who holds parental responsibility agrees. GOV.UK counts naming a child, and agreeing to any change of name, as part of parental responsibility, and a first name is treated no differently from a surname.

Within 12 months: the birth register#

Section 13 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 covers a child whose registered name is changed, or who is given a name after being registered without one, before 12 months have passed from the date of registration. The register office that holds the entry records the new name from a certificate signed by the father, the mother, a guardian or the person giving the name, or by whoever performed the baptism if the name was given then. The fee is £44. The original entry is not erased: the new name is added to it, in the space HM Passport Office's guidance calls section 17. Changing a baby's name after the birth is registered takes you through the forms.

HM Passport Office notes that one parent's signature is enough for the register. So before it prints a section 17 name in a child's passport, it asks for the consent of everyone with parental responsibility and two documents showing the name in use.

After the first year: a child deed poll#

From then on, in England and Wales, the route is a deed poll made by a parent on the child's behalf. GOV.UK's rule for a child's name is the agreement of everyone with parental responsibility, or a court order, and it expects you to try to agree before going to court. HM Passport Office applies its consent rule to a forename exactly as to a surname, and it counts a new spelling, an added or dropped middle name and a change in the order of names as changes of name too. The birth certificate stays as it was, and the deed poll is shown with it.

If someone with parental responsibility says no#

Then the decision moves to the family court, after an attempt to agree. In England and Wales you would usually attend a mediation meeting first, then apply on form C100 for a specific issue order, for £270. The court decides on the child's welfare.

Two points are particular to first names. Section 13 of the Children Act 1989, which requires written consent or the court's permission while a child arrangements order says who a child lives with, mentions only surnames; the Court of Appeal confirmed in 2024 that a dispute over a first name is decided on a specific issue order instead. And the court applies the same principles to either name. The Court of Appeal called that "now settled law", pointing out that children now live most of their lives by their first names. Specific issue orders covers the application, and how a court decides a child's name what the judge weighs.

A father without parental responsibility does not have to agree, though as a parent he can still apply to the court: who has parental responsibility?

Does my child get a say?#

Under 16, the rules ask for the agreement of the adults with parental responsibility, not of the child. But when a court decides a dispute, the child's wishes and feelings, considered in the light of their age and understanding, come first on the checklist in section 1(3) of the Children Act 1989.

The 2024 case shows how that works. The Court of Appeal allowed a 15-year-old to take legally the first name they had used for more than three years, and said that the wishes of 16 and 17 year olds, while not decisive, are a powerful factor. Earlier, in 2017, the High Court said that the longer a child has carried a first name, the stronger their connection with it and the stronger the reasons needed to change it.

From 16 a young person can make their own deed poll: changing your name at 16 or 17. Does a child have to agree to their own name change? explains how younger children are heard.

What happens at school?#

In England, a school's admission register must hold each pupil's full name and, separately, the name the pupil uses at school. The school census asks for the forename in full, not a shortened or familiar version. The Department for Education's guidance on parental responsibility asks schools for written evidence of everyone's consent before changing the surname a child is known by, but it has no section on first names, so ask your school how it handles one. Updating a child's name at school covers records and exam entries.

The passport#

A new first name needs a new passport, applied for in that name. GOV.UK asks for the old passport, the deed poll, at least one record showing the new name in use, such as NHS, Child Benefit or school records, and written consent from everyone with parental responsibility. A child's passport costs £66.50 online. Without that consent or a court order, HM Passport Office's guidance tells staff to issue the passport in the child's original name, even when the new name is already used everywhere else. Changing the name on your child's passport has the detail.

Scotland and Northern Ireland#

Both can record a child's new first name against a birth registered there. National Records of Scotland allows one change of forename for a child under 16, on form 21 for a baby under 12 months old and form 23 after that, for £40. In Northern Ireland, GRONI records one change of a child's names before 18, for £35, on a form signed by the qualifying parents and witnessed by a justice of the peace, lay magistrate or practising solicitor. A deed poll can be used in both. Changing a child's name in Scotland and in Northern Ireland set out who must sign.