Sikh names: are Singh and Kaur surnames, and how do I change mine?

Are Singh and Kaur surnames?#

They can be. In Sikh practice the two names belong to every given name. The Sikh Rehat Maryada, the Sikh code of conduct, says in its article on the birth and naming of a child that the name, which begins with the first letter of the hymn then read from the Guru Granth Sahib, takes the suffix Singh for a boy and Kaur for a girl. Its article on Sikh living tells a parent to add them in the same way.

British documents then have to decide where each sits. HM Passport Office's knowledge base profile for India, written for its examiners, describes three naming conventions in India (Hindu, Muslim and Sikh). Of the Sikh one it says only that Sikhs most commonly use the surname Singh, and that they may use it as a middle name, as a surname, or joined to their surname with a hyphen. The profile does not mention Kaur. Nothing in UK law fixes the position of either: HM Passport Office's own guidance says the name a customer uses is up to them, within its rules on offensive names and symbols.

So Harpreet Kaur, Harpreet Kaur Sandhu and Harpreet Kaur-Sandhu are all workable names. The difference is which word your records treat as the surname.

How will my passport show Singh or Kaur?#

In the name you use for all official purposes. HM Passport Office's names policy says a customer must use one name for all official purposes, and that the name on a passport application must match the name on their UK or overseas documents. There is no separate Sikh rule beyond that: whether Singh is a middle name or a surname on your passport depends on how your birth certificate or your last passport shows it, or on a later change you can prove.

Documents that place the names differently are not unusual. NHS Employers' identity checks standard lists religious reasons among the legitimate reasons someone may have documents in different names, but it still expects the difference to be matched with evidence. My name is different on my documents explains which to fix first.

Which changes need a deed poll?#

GOV.UK says a deed poll can change any part of your name, add or remove names or hyphens, or change the spelling. HM Passport Office then sorts changes into two kinds, and Sikh names fall into both:

The minor-change row comes from HM Passport Office's guidance, which counts dropping any forename except the first as minor. Banks and other organisations set their own rules and may ask for a deed poll for any change, so it can be simpler to make one deed cover everything.

What does the deed poll say?#

GOV.UK's wording for an unenrolled deed poll records your old name, that you have given it up, and the new name you have adopted for all purposes, signed in both names before two witnesses. HM Passport Office must accept one that is signed in the old and new names, witnessed by at least one person, signed in wet ink and dated.

Write each name in full, in the order you will use it, and settle before you sign which word is the surname. Passport, payroll and bank forms all ask for forenames and surname separately, so the deed, and every record you update with it, should agree on that split. Ours is £18.50, drafted and checked, and posted the same working day (get a deed poll).

Keeping Kaur or Singh when you marry#

A marriage or civil partnership certificate is evidence for taking a spouse's surname, all of it or part of it, or for a double-barrelled surname made from both surnames, with or without a hyphen, as long as the certificate shows the link. HM Passport Office will not accept the certificate for keeping your previous surname as a new middle name, because it treats adding a forename as a change of name.

Take Simran Kaur marrying Jaspreet Singh Gill, with the certificate showing her surname as Kaur and his as Gill. Simran Gill, or Simran Kaur Gill with Kaur Gill as a double-barrelled surname, needs only the certificate. Simran Kaur Gill with Kaur as a middle name and Gill as the surname reads the same but needs a deed poll or a statutory declaration, because Kaur has moved from surname to forename. Keeping a maiden name as a middle name explains the rule.

Taking Amrit, or a new name#

The Rehat Maryada's article on initiation says that anyone initiated who was not named under the Sikh naming ceremony should give up their previous name and be given a new one, beginning with the first letter of the Hukam taken at the ceremony. That is a religious step; in law it is a change of name like any other, recorded by a deed poll if you want your records to follow it. Changing your name after converting to a religion covers the rest.

A baby's name, and a naming ceremony after registration#

In England and Wales the surname entered when a birth is registered is the one by which the child is intended to be known, so Singh, Kaur, a family surname or a combination can all be registered. If the naming ceremony comes after the registration, the birth can be registered without a first name, and a name given within 12 months of the registration can be added to the entry for £44: changing a baby's name in its first year. A later change to a child's surname needs the agreement of everyone with parental responsibility (children's names).

Indian passports, OCI cards and other countries' documents#

A UK deed poll changes nothing on another country's documents. HM Passport Office's India profile lists the Overseas Citizenship of India card among the cards India issues to foreign nationals of Indian origin; like an Indian passport, it is India's to update, under India's rules (passports from other countries). If your foreign passport shows your name differently because of a naming convention, HM Passport Office's uncommon names guidance tells examiners to check its knowledge base. Where the convention explains the difference and the other country will not let you change it, they do not ask you to align the two; the British passport carries an observation recording the name on the other document. The India profile adds that India does not allow dual nationality. Apply direct, on GOV.UK or at a Post Office.