The Process to Legally Change your Name

Each individual has a right to change his or her name as per will. There are a certain rules and laws that must be followed in order to get the new name in action. This article throws light on some of the essential legal processes involved in changing one’s name after marriage, or for any other purposes. 


There are many reasons that might drive the idea of changing one’s name as it exists. The decision to legally change your name is a crucial one and must not be taken in haste. Your name reflects your identity and plays a vital role in your professional as well as day to day life. There are several important steps that must be followed as a part of the process of changing names. Remember, change of name is a huge step and a hasty decision can ruin the same. The whole process of going about the act is simple and very user friendly. Further, you may like to read about the process in some detail and get a fair idea about proceeding in the matter with convenience.

The legal notes to follow while changing names

The first and foremost things to do while applying for a new name is fill out a form at the local government office so that the legal proceedings can begin. Other than that, as an applicant, you will also have to apply for a modified social security card after deciding to change your name. A social security card works as a proof of identity and is very important to have. All the relevant details in the prescribed form have to be filled up and submitted in the local office. All the important details about such forms and the right ways of submission can be found on the government website. After you have your new modified social security card number in hand, you may move ahead with other legal formalities.

The driving license is also something that is very essential and must bear the right name of the user. Therefore, it is essential that you visit your local DMV office in order to get your name changed in their records. It is very pivotal that the government records have your right name as these details can be important in ways more than one. Additionally, travelling is something that everyone likes to do once in a while and almost everyone has a passport for the said purpose. Just like a driver’s license, the passport too must have the correct name on it. Therefore it is the duty of the person changing his name to inform the requisite offices about this big change.

These above mentioned changes must be taken seriously. This is because if the names on them do not match with the name of the person travelling or driving with them, then, it might be a serious issue. Other than that, there are many other government and non-government bodies that must be informed about the change of name; some of these are:

• Post office
• School associations
• Banks
• Insurance agents
• Employers
• Credit card companies
• State taxing authority
• Utility and telephone companies, etc.

Undoubtedly, the legal formalities are essential but there are some non-legal points too that must be remembered while changing one’s name legally.

The non-legal perspective to changing names

Everyone has a right to change their birth name if they do not approve of it for some reason or the other. They can choose the name of their choice but there are some exceptions that must be kept in mind while thinking of a new name. For instance, one cannot pick a name that matches that of a famous personality or celebrity. Such change of names can be very misleading in nature and thus are not allowed. There are some people who choose to change their name to run from their criminal activities and that is strictly prohibited by the law.

A valid reason must be provided to change the name and the government authorities will also conduct a proper background check of the applicant to rule out the above mentioned possibility. Some people wish to hide their illicit activities by changing their name while there are many others who change their name to commit wrongful actions. This kind of name change is strictly not possible and must not be done under any circumstances. A modified name must not contain punctuation marks or some numeric characters as that is a strict no-no. Besides, one cannot choose a new name that offends the society or is obscene in nature. All these mentioned pointers have their individual importance and must not be missed while changing names. 

Overall, the decision to legally change your name is a personal decision but the above points must be kept in mind.

The final call

One has to be totally sure when he or she decides to legally change the name. Some people regard this as a very tricky, time consuming and cumbersome matter but it is not so at all. The applicants can go through the entire process by themselves and do not need the services of a lawyer to do their bidding. However, if some people wish to hire expert help then there are professional service providers for the same. These name change facilitators offer a variety of packages to the customers to take the load off their shoulders.

All applicants can find a lot of useful information about these service providers on the internet. If you decide to legally change your name then it is advisable to do so in a careful manner. Complexities may arise only if one does not follow the legal process or chooses a questionable name. In absence of both the aforementioned possibilities, the entire process of name change is simple and very easy going. The government bodies have worked hard over the years in order to simplify the entire process of changing names so that the applicants face no troubles whatsoever. – Just go for it.