Can I keep my maiden name as a middle name?

Can I keep my maiden name as a middle name?#

Yes, but by deed poll rather than with your marriage certificate. HM Passport Office's guidance to its staff says that someone who marries may use their previous surname as a new forename, but that the marriage or civil partnership certificate cannot be accepted as evidence of that change, because "we treat adding a forename as a change of name". It asks instead for evidence of the change, giving a statutory declaration as an example, and evidence that you use the name. A deed poll does the same job, needs no solicitor, and GOV.UK's guidance says a deed poll can add names.

Why the marriage certificate is not enough#

The certificate records the marriage and the names you each had on the day. That is why it works for a surname: HM Passport Office accepts it for taking your spouse's surname, part of it, or a double-barrelled surname with or without a hyphen, because the certificate shows how the new surname was made. It shows nothing about your forenames, and the guidance says adding a forename is never a minor change.

Take Jane Smith, who marries Tom Jones:

Written down, the last two can look identical. What differs is the box Smith goes in. In the surname box it is half of a double-barrelled surname, which the certificate covers; among your forenames it is a new middle name, which needs a deed poll.

What the deed poll records#

A deed poll sets out your whole old name and your whole new name, as GOV.UK's wording does, so Jane Anne Smith becomes Jane Anne Smith Jones in one document. It records the middle name and the married surname together, linking your old name to the complete new one.

If your records already show your married surname, the deed runs from Jane Anne Jones to Jane Anne Smith Jones instead. If your passport is still in your maiden name, send the marriage certificate with the deed, because HM Passport Office wants evidence of every change since your last passport or, on a first passport, since your birth certificate.

What HM Passport Office's guidance says about forenames#

• Adding a forename is never a minor change. It needs evidence of the change and evidence that you use the name, and the guidance deals specifically with a previous surname used as a new forename after a marriage.
• Some changes count as minor. A new spelling of a forename, a new order of forenames, or dropping any forename except the first can be accepted with two documents showing you use the new form. Adding a middle name is not on that list.
• Proof of use can show less than your full name. The guidance accepts evidence showing only the parts of your name that changed, and evidence showing just the initial of a changed middle name. From the UK, one document is enough, such as a letter from your employer or council, and most kinds must be from the last 12 months.

How it shows on cards and forms#

It becomes one of your forenames, so your passport is issued with it among them, forms take it in the forenames box, and your surname is your married one. Many documents will show only your first name and surname, or an initial: HM Passport Office notes that almost all the proof of use it accepts gives a forename and surname only.

Where a form asks for previous names, your maiden surname still counts as one: GOV.UK's guide to the DBS application, for example, asks for every name you have been known by since birth.

Some banks want photo ID first. Barclays asks for a government-issued photo ID showing the new name, such as a passport or driving licence, before it changes a first or middle name, and Lloyds, Halifax and Santander accept an unenrolled deed poll only with a passport or driving licence in the new name. So get a letter from your employer or council in the new name, then the passport or driving licence (DVLA charges nothing), then the banks: banks compared.

For a baby or a child#

• At registration. You give the baby's forenames when you register the birth, so a family surname, such as a mother's maiden name, can be a middle name from the start: what can I name my baby?
• Within 12 months of registration, in England and Wales. Section 13 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 lets a forename be added or changed on the register, for £44. For a passport in that name, HM Passport Office wants the consent of everyone with parental responsibility, because the consent of one parent is enough to add the name to the register: changing a baby's name after registration, which also covers Scotland and Northern Ireland.
• After that. HM Passport Office counts adding a middle name to a child's name as a change of name, so it is a child deed poll agreed by everyone with parental responsibility. A child passport in the new name needs the deed, a record showing the child uses the name, such as school or NHS records, and the written consent of everyone with parental responsibility. From 16, a young person can make their own deed poll.