What age can you change your name in the UK?

What age can you change your name?#

Sixteen. In England and Wales GOV.UK says that if you are 16 or over you can make a deed poll yourself and start using a new name, and HM Passport Office's guidance says that from 16 a person can legally change their name and get an adult passport without the consent of everyone with parental responsibility. Under 16, the decision belongs to the adults with parental responsibility, all of them together, or to a court. Two things wait until 18: enrolling a deed poll in your own name, and, in Northern Ireland, recording a change of name against your birth entry yourself.

The rules by age, in each part of the UK#

Under 16: a parent decides, and everyone must agree#

A child cannot make their own deed poll. A parent or guardian makes it for them, and GOV.UK requires either the agreement of everyone with parental responsibility or a court order, after trying to reach agreement first. HM Passport Office's guidance is blunt about the child's own part: "a child under 16 cannot complete a change of name until they are 16", and it issues a child passport in a new name only with consent from everyone with parental responsibility. On a paper passport application, GOV.UK says a child aged 12 to 15 signs the form too, alongside the parent.

That does not make a child's view irrelevant. If the adults disagree and a court decides, the Children Act 1989 puts the child's wishes and feelings, considered in the light of their age and understanding, first on the list the court must weigh. Does a child have to agree to their own name change? explains how children are heard, and changing a child's name covers the whole process, including who has parental responsibility.

For a baby there is one extra route in England and Wales. Section 13 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 lets a name given or changed within 12 months of registration be added to the birth entry; the regulations then enter it with the surname already registered, so a new surname still needs a deed poll. Changing a baby's name after registration has the fee and the form.

At 16 or 17: your own decision#

GOV.UK's guide to changing a child's name says that at 16 or 17 you can choose to make your own unenrolled deed poll. You sign it in your old and new names in front of adult witnesses, and nobody else's agreement is needed. HM Passport Office will not accept objections from anyone with parental responsibility to a change you made yourself after turning 16, provided no court order applies.

The exception is a court order. The passport office asks for the consent of everyone with parental responsibility until 18 where a care order or another court order is in place, and section 9(7) of the Children Act 1989 means a new order about a child of 16 or over is made only in exceptional circumstances.

Enrolling the deed poll is different. Until 18 a parent or guardian applies, with a letter from you agreeing to the change, giving both names, witnessed by an adult who is not related to you. The Enrolment of Deeds (Change of Name) Regulations 1994 also require the deed to carry your consent, signed in both your old and new names. GOV.UK says a 16 or 17 year old who is or has been married or in a civil partnership enrols as an adult instead; since 27 February 2023 nobody under 18 can marry or form a civil partnership in England and Wales, so that mostly concerns marriages made earlier or elsewhere.

Changing your name at 16 or 17 is written for young people themselves, and the eligibility checker confirms which route fits.

At 18: an adult in law#

At 18 you are an adult for every purpose: the Family Law Reform Act 1969 sets full age at 18, and the Children Act 1989 defines a child as a person under 18, so parental responsibility ends. GOV.UK says that from 18 you can apply yourself to put your change on public record by enrolling a deed poll, for £53.05. There is no upper age limit, and a deed poll made for you as a child still proves the change.

Scotland: 16 is the age of legal capacity#

The Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991 gives a person of 16 or over legal capacity to enter into any transaction, and gives a child under 16 none, with limited exceptions. One of them matters for disputes: a child under 16 can instruct a solicitor if they understand what that means, and a child of 12 or over is presumed to. Since 21 September 2025, section 6 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 has required a parent making a major decision to give the child the chance to express a view, starting from the presumption that the child can form one.

If the birth was registered in Scotland, National Records of Scotland can record a change against it for £40. Under 16, the parents with parental responsibilities and rights sign form 23, and a child can have one forename change and one surname change. From 16 you sign form 24 yourself, and can have one forename change and up to three surname changes, at least five years apart. Changing a child's name in Scotland has more.

Northern Ireland: 18 for the birth record#

nidirect points to GOV.UK's guide for a deed poll. Recording a change against a birth registered in Northern Ireland is different: until 18 the form must be signed by the qualified applicants, usually the parents, in front of a justice of the peace, a lay magistrate or another person on nidirect's list, and only one change is allowed before 18. From 18 you apply yourself, with one change of forename and up to three of surname, five years apart, for £35. Changing a child's name in Northern Ireland covers the rest.