What are the legal ways to change your name?#
HM Passport Office's guidance to its staff lists 14 kinds of document it accepts as evidence that a name has changed, which makes it the most complete official list of the routes there are. Four cover almost everyone: a marriage or civil partnership certificate, divorce papers shown with that certificate, a deed poll and a statutory declaration. The rest fit particular cases: a court order or an adoption certificate for a child, the record National Records of Scotland adds to a Scottish birth entry, a Gender Recognition Certificate, a birth certificate issued after a birth is re-registered, a certificate from the Court of the Lord Lyon, and, in theory, an Act of Parliament.
Each route is set out below, with who it is for. If you already know yours and want the steps, how to change your name in the UK is the complete guide to the usual one.
The principle underneath#
Under the common law of England and Wales you may call yourself what you like, and a name is simply what you are known by, provided you are not doing it to deceive. What organisations need is evidence: a document that links the name they hold for you to the name you now use. Each of the routes below is a way of producing that document, and which you need depends on what caused the change.
Route 1: a marriage or civil partnership certificate#
For taking your spouse's or civil partner's surname, including a double-barrelled surname made from both names. GOV.UK says you do not need a deed poll for this; you send a copy of the certificate to the organisations that hold your records. HM Passport Office issues a passport in the new name on the certificate alone, and can issue a post-dated one up to three months before the ceremony.
The certificate evidences a change to the spouse's surname. It does not evidence a change of first name, a surname that belongs to neither of you, or a middle name moved around; for those you need a deed poll as well, whether or not you are getting married.
Route 2: the divorce papers#
For going back to your original name after a divorce or the end of a civil partnership. GOV.UK says you may be able to do this by showing your marriage certificate together with your decree absolute, or your civil partnership certificate with the final order. HM Passport Office also asks for a signed statement that you have gone back to the former name for all purposes, plus a document showing you use it.
GOV.UK adds that some organisations will not change a name back without a deed poll. If one refuses, a deed poll settles it, and it costs less than the argument.
Route 3: a deed poll#
For every other change. A new surname you were not born with and did not marry into; a different first name; a middle name added, removed or moved; a spelling changed; a name you have used for years but never documented. A deed poll is a legal document, made and signed by one person, that proves a change of name, signed in front of witnesses. GOV.UK says anyone aged 16 or over can make one and use it straight away.
It comes in two forms, unenrolled and enrolled, which prove the same thing; the enrolled one has also been recorded by the High Court for £53.05 and published in The Gazette. Enrolled and unenrolled deed polls explains the choice, and what is a deed poll? explains the document.
Route 4: a statutory declaration#
For Scotland, and for organisations that want a sworn account. A statutory declaration is a written statement you declare to be true before a solicitor, a commissioner for oaths or another person authorised to take declarations. In Scotland it is the traditional alternative to a deed poll, and National Records of Scotland names the two side by side as the ways for someone born outside Scotland to change their name. Elsewhere it appears when an organisation wants a sworn account of a name history, for example where a name has been used inconsistently for years and no single document links the versions. HM Passport Office accepts one signed in the new name with the wording of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835, and accepts an affidavit, a statement sworn on oath, in the same way.
A statutory declaration is not a deed, and it is not registered anywhere either. What it adds is the solicitor's signature confirming you swore to it.
The statutory declaration page goes into it in full.
Route 5: a court order, for a child#
Where a child's name is to change and not everyone with parental responsibility agrees. GOV.UK is clear that a child's name is changed with the agreement of everyone who has parental responsibility or with a court order, and that you must try to reach agreement before you seek an order. The application is for a specific issue order on form C100, and the court fee is £270. The court decides on the child's welfare. An order usually gives permission rather than changing the name itself: HM Passport Office accepts an order that authorises the change, but still asks for evidence of the change, normally the child's deed poll, unless the order spells out the new name. Changing a child's name covers what the court weighs.
Route 6: the National Records of Scotland record#
For anyone born or adopted in Scotland. National Records of Scotland can record a change of name against your birth or adoption entry, under section 43 of the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965, and new copies of your birth certificate then show the new name and the previous one. It costs £40, plus £10 for each extra family member applying at the same time, and you apply by post on NRS's form, which does not ask for a deed poll. HM Passport Office's guidance tells its staff they must accept the new Scottish birth certificate as evidence of the change, so for someone born in Scotland this is a complete route without a deed poll.
The Act sets limits: from 16, one change of forename and up to three changes of surname, at least five years apart; under 16, one of each, applied for by the parents who hold parental responsibilities and rights. NRS does not use it for a change on marriage, divorce or civil partnership, where the certificate already does the job. Changing your name in Scotland has the forms and timings.
Route 7: adoption#
For a child who is adopted. When the court makes an adoption order, GOV.UK says the General Register Office creates an adoption certificate that replaces the original birth certificate and shows the child's new name. HM Passport Office accepts that certificate as evidence of the change, or the adoption order itself if it shows the full new name and the certificate has not been issued yet. An adopted adult who wants a birth name back uses a deed poll: can I go back to my birth name after adoption?
Documents that record a name without changing it#
Two documents often come up here, but neither changes a name by itself.
- A Gender Recognition Certificate. GOV.UK says the name on a certificate cannot be updated once it is issued, so if you want your new name on it you change your name first, usually by deed poll, and then apply. HM Passport Office then accepts a full certificate as evidence of the change. Most people change their name when they transition long before applying, and no certificate is needed for that.
- A naturalisation certificate. Becoming a British citizen does not change your name. The Home Office's guide to form AN (July 2026) asks anyone whose identity documents are not in their current name to send evidence of the change, such as a deed poll or marriage certificate, and the certificate cannot be amended for a change made afterwards.
The rare routes#
- A baby's first names, in the first year. In England and Wales, section 13 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 lets the name a child was registered with be altered on the register within twelve months of the registration. Changing a baby's name after the birth is registered explains what it covers and costs.
- A certificate from the Court of the Lord Lyon. HM Passport Office's guidance says anyone can ask the Lord Lyon, Scotland's heraldic judge, to recognise a change of name, and its staff must accept the certificate. Section 43 of the 1965 Act also lets National Records of Scotland record a change on the strength of one.
- An Act of Parliament. HM Passport Office's guidance allows for a name changed by private Act, while noting that it is not likely.
When you have used several names#
Some people arrive with a history rather than a change: a name used since school that never matched the birth certificate, a married name kept after a second marriage, a spelling that drifted. There is no rule against it, but the organisations that hold your records need one document that links every version. Two things do that. A deed poll adopting the name you actually use, for all purposes, draws a line under the history from the date it is signed. A statutory declaration of your name history, sworn before a solicitor, sets out each name and when it was used, and is what an organisation usually means when it asks for a "one and the same person" declaration. HM Passport Office may check the history of both an old and a new name, so a tidy chain of documents saves questions. I changed my name years ago without a deed poll goes through putting that history in order.
A new first name when you marry#
The certificate covers the surname only. If you want a different first name as well, or a middle name moved or dropped, that part is a deed poll, and the sensible order is the deed poll first, then the marriage, so the certificate is issued in the name you will keep.
What HM Passport Office accepts#
HM Passport Office's guidance to its staff says every application in a changed name must be supported by evidence that shows the new name and its link to the previous one, such as a marriage certificate or a deed poll, and it must accept an unenrolled deed poll, including one made online, provided it is signed in both names, witnessed by at least one person, signed in wet ink and dated. The same guidance asks for one document showing the new name in use. So each of the routes above ends in the same place: a document that links two names, and a life already lived in the new one.
For a child#
The routes narrow. A marriage certificate does not change a child's name, and a child cannot make a statutory declaration or a deed poll of their own until 16. A child's name is changed by a deed poll made by a parent with the agreement of everyone who holds parental responsibility, or with a court order where they cannot agree. A child born in Scotland can also have the change recorded by National Records of Scotland, and an adopted child takes the name on the adoption certificate. Changing a child's name.
Changing back#
A change of name is not a one-way door. An adult who wants their former name back, or a different one again, makes another deed poll; GOV.UK's guidance sets no limit on how many times a name can be changed by deed poll, though the deed itself says authorities may check the history of both names, and HM Passport Office asks for evidence linking every name you have used. After a divorce the certificate and decree can evidence a return to a maiden name without a deed, as above. A child's name can be changed back on the same terms as it was changed: with the agreement of everyone who holds parental responsibility, or by the court.
Can I change my name back? covers each case.
Which route, in one table#
| The change | The document | Deed poll needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Taking a spouse's surname on marriage or civil partnership | The certificate | No |
| Double-barrelling both surnames on marriage | The certificate | No |
| A new first name at the same time as marrying | The certificate for the surname, a deed poll for the first name | Yes, for the first name |
| Returning to a former name after divorce | Certificate plus decree absolute or final order | Sometimes, if an organisation insists |
| Any surname you did not marry into | A deed poll | Yes |
| A new first or middle name, or a spelling | A deed poll | Yes |
| A name used for years with no paperwork | A deed poll, or a statutory declaration of your name history | Usually |
| Born or adopted in Scotland, any change not made on marriage or divorce | The NRS record: a new birth certificate showing both names | No, though a deed poll is quicker if you need evidence at once |
| Changing gender | A deed poll for the name; a Gender Recognition Certificate later, if you apply | Usually, for the name |
| A child being adopted | The adoption certificate | No |
| A child, everyone agrees | A child deed poll signed by a parent | Yes |
| A child, a parent will not agree | A court order, then usually a deed poll recording the change | Not without the order |
What none of them can do#
None of these documents changes a title (Mr, Mrs, Ms, Mx, Dr), which is not part of a legal name and is simply chosen; none changes which letters are capitalised, which GOV.UK says a deed poll cannot do; none changes nationality or immigration status; and a deed poll does not amend an England and Wales birth certificate, which records the birth as registered. What each does is prove that the person on one document is the person on the next.
Certificate, deed poll or court order? asks two or three questions and points you to the route that fits.
