Changing your child's name
You may want
to change either your child's first name or surname or you may simply
want your child to be known by a particular first name which is different
from the name on the birth certificate. So long as there is agreement
between the parents, there is nothing to stop you changing the name
by which your child is known on a day-to-day basis.
Remember though that the name on the birth certificate will almost without exception have to remain the same. You may wish to execute a Deed Poll to confirm the day-to-day name although this is not essential. A Deed Poll will not get the child’s birth certificate changed.
If, for example, you wish to change your child’s surname to their step-parent’s name by Deed Poll, the consent of everyone who has parental responsibility is needed.
If both parents do not agree about the names by which a child is to be known, they can apply to court for the judge to decide (but this would still not affect the name on the birth certificate). An application to the court to change a child’s surname is normally only successful when everyone who has parental responsibility for the child has given written consent.
Changing the name on your child’s birth certificate will require re-registering the birth. This will only be allowed in certain limited circumstances, for example, if the natural parents marry each other at a later date. In other circumstances, if both parents agree, a child's birth certificate can be changed if the child's surname is being changed from the mother's surname to the father's surname.
However if the child was registered with the father's surname, it is not possible to change the child's surname back to the mother's on the birth certificate.
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