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Children and young people

Changing a child's name

Everything turns on one question: who holds parental responsibility for the child, and do they all agree.

Checked against GOV.UK Updated

A drawing of two parents and a child holding a deed poll

The short answer

A child under 16 cannot change their own name. A parent or guardian makes a deed poll on the child's behalf, and GOV.UK requires the agreement of everyone with parental responsibility or a court order; you must try to reach agreement first. A young person of 16 or 17 makes their own deed poll.

Key facts

Under 16
A parent applies; everyone with parental responsibility must agree, or a court must order it
16 or 17
The young person makes their own deed poll
If a parent will not agree
A specific issue order from the family court, form C100, £270
Who has parental responsibility
The birth mother; a father married to her, named on a birth registered from 1 December 2003 (England and Wales), or granted it by agreement or court; others by court order
What the court weighs
The child's welfare above everything else
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On this page 11 sections
  1. What is different when the name is a child's
  2. Who has parental responsibility
  3. When everyone agrees
  4. When a parent will not agree
  5. When the other parent cannot be found
  6. Sixteen and seventeen
  7. At 18
  8. Telling the organisations that hold a child's records
  9. Enrolling a child's deed poll
  10. Scotland
  11. Every question on children's names

What is different when the name is a child's#

An adult changes their name by deciding to. A child's name is decided by the people who hold parental responsibility for the child, and GOV.UK lists naming the child and agreeing to any change of name among what parental responsibility covers. So a child's deed poll is made by a parent or guardian on the child's behalf, and it is valid only if everyone who holds parental responsibility agrees, or a court has ordered the change. There is no way round that: a deed poll provider cannot draft around a missing consent, and one made without it is not valid.

Who has parental responsibility#

GOV.UK's rules for England and Wales:

  • The birth mother has it automatically.
  • A father, or a second female parent, has it automatically if married to or in a civil partnership with the birth mother when the child is born, and a biological father gets it if he marries or enters a civil partnership with the birth mother later.
  • An unmarried father gets it by registering the birth jointly with the mother, by a parental responsibility agreement signed with her and witnessed at a family court, or by a court order.
  • A step-parent does not get it automatically, even when married to the child's parent, but can acquire it by agreement or court order.
  • Others can hold it under a court order: a child arrangements order can give it, and a special guardian and a local authority with a care order hold it too.

More than two people can have parental responsibility for the same child, and a parent who does not live with the child keeps it. GOV.UK's guidance also says that for a major decision, everyone who has parental responsibility must agree in writing. Scotland has its own rules on who holds what it calls parental rights and responsibilities.

Who has parental responsibility? goes through every route, in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

When everyone agrees#

The parent who applies makes the deed poll on the child's behalf and signs it in front of two independent adult witnesses; the deed records that everyone with parental responsibility agrees. Keep the written agreement of the others with the deed, because HM Passport Office will ask for consent from everyone with parental responsibility when a child's passport is applied for in the new name, unless a court order says otherwise. Ours is £18.50, comes with a parental cover letter, and is posted the same working day: child deed poll.

If you are the only person who holds parental responsibility, yours is the only agreement needed.

Some families have a page of their own: a stepchild's surname, a child taking the mother's or the father's surname and a double-barrelled surname.

When a parent will not agree#

GOV.UK's rule is agreement or a court order, and you must try to reach agreement before you seek an order. If agreement cannot be reached, the application is to the family court for a specific issue order, on form C100, sent to your nearest court that deals with child cases. The court fee is £270, and help with fees is available for people on benefits or a low income. The court's decision is governed by the child's welfare, and GOV.UK says a judge will decide what is in the child's best interests. Changing a child's surname without the other parent's consent goes through what that involves.

Where a child arrangements order says who the child lives with, or when, section 13 of the Children Act 1989 says no person may cause the child to be known by a new surname without the written consent of every person with parental responsibility or the leave of the court, so the court route is a legal requirement rather than a last resort. Section 33 makes the same rule for a child in local authority care.

Specific issue orders takes the application step by step, and how a court decides a child's name explains what the judge weighs. After a separation, changing a child's name after divorce or separation covers the extra rule that applies when a court order says where the child lives.

When the other parent cannot be found#

Agreement cannot be obtained from someone who cannot be found, so the route is the same court application, with evidence of the steps taken to trace and notify them. An unenrolled deed poll cannot be made on that basis. An enrolled one can, with a High Court judge's permission, where the other parent cannot be found despite reasonable efforts; changing a child's name when the other parent is absent explains both routes.

Sixteen and seventeen#

At 16 a young person changes their own name with their own deed poll, signed by them, and nobody else's agreement is needed. GOV.UK says a 16 or 17 year old can choose to make their own unenrolled deed poll. If the parents want the change enrolled with the High Court instead, a parent applies and must include a letter from the young person agreeing, witnessed by an adult who is not related to them.

Changing your name at 16 or 17 is written for the young person, and does a child have to agree to their own name change? covers a younger child's views.

At 18#

Nothing needs doing. A deed poll made for a child records a change that happened on the day it was signed, and it goes on proving it after the child becomes an adult. An adult who wants a different name, or the old one back, makes their own deed poll.

Does my child need a new deed poll at 18? answers the question in full.

Telling the organisations that hold a child's records#

  • School, college or nursery, which usually wants to see the deed and keeps a copy.
  • The GP surgery, which updates the NHS record.
  • HM Revenue and Customs, for Child Benefit.
  • HM Passport Office, if the child has a passport or needs one: the original deed poll, consent from everyone with parental responsibility, and a document showing the new name in use, such as school records. A child's passport costs £66.50 online.
  • Anyone else who holds the child's name: a savings account, a dentist, clubs, and any court or social services involvement, where the change should be reported.

Schools follow their own guidance, set out in updating a child's name at school. A family with more than one surname should read travelling abroad with a child who has a different surname before booking a trip.

Enrolling a child's deed poll#

Optional, as for an adult. A parent or guardian applies, with the agreement of everyone with parental responsibility or a court order, for £53.05; it can take several months, and the child's new name is published in The Gazette unless the judge agrees to limit it. It does not make the deed more likely to be accepted.

How to enrol a deed poll takes each form in turn, including the forms for a child.

Scotland#

In Scotland each parent with parental rights can act alone in law, but National Records of Scotland and HM Passport Office both want everyone with parental rights and responsibilities to agree, and where the parents cannot agree the decision is for the sheriff court. If the child's birth was registered in Scotland, a parent can also record the change with National Records of Scotland. Changing your name in Scotland.

Every question on children's names#

Each of these answers one question in full, from the same sources.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these on . If a source has changed since, tell us and we will correct the page.