Who can change a child's name, who has to agree, and what the passport office, school and GP need once the deed poll arrives.
A parent or carer with parental responsibility can change the name of a child aged 15 or under with a child deed poll. Everyone who holds parental responsibility has to agree, and if one of them will not, you need a court order first. From 16, a child applies for their own deed poll.
A child deed poll is a legal document that records two things: that a child's name has changed, and that the people responsible for the child agreed to it. A parent or carer signs it on the child's behalf. Signed and witnessed, it is what HM Passport Office, the school and the GP will ask to see before they update their records.
It does not alter the birth certificate. That stays as a record of the name given at birth, and the deed poll sits alongside it. Our deed poll guide explains how the document works in more detail.
UK Deed Poll prepares child deed polls for children aged 15 or under who live in the UK. The document costs £22.50 and the child deed poll application takes about five minutes.
There is no list of approved reasons. As long as the change is not meant to deceive anyone and everyone with parental responsibility agrees, any first name, middle name or surname is allowed. The reasons we see most often:
Apply before 3pm and your deed poll is prepared today.
A child aged 15 or under cannot change their own name. Someone with parental responsibility applies for them and signs the deed poll on their behalf. From the day the child turns 16 they can make their own deed poll without anyone's permission, so a 16 or 17 year old applies as an adult. If your child is already 16, use the adult deed poll application instead.
Parental responsibility is the legal term for the rights and duties a parent has towards a child. For a child in England and Wales it works like this:
Marrying the child's parent does not give a step parent parental responsibility. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules.
This is the rule that catches people out. The parent who applies cannot act alone. Every person who holds parental responsibility has to consent to the new name in writing, and the deed poll is only valid with that consent. A parent who has moved away, never sees the child, or pays no maintenance still holds it if they ever had it. Absence does not remove it.
You cannot change the name anyway and hope nobody checks. Schools and HM Passport Office look for the consent of everyone with parental responsibility, and a deed poll without it will be refused.
The route is a court order. You apply to the family court for a specific issue order using form C100 and ask the court to decide the child's name. The fee is £263 at the time of writing, and you may qualify for help with fees. The court decides on what is best for the child, and will want to know why the change matters, how long the child has used each name, and what the other parent objects to. If the order is granted, it takes the place of the missing consent and you apply for the deed poll with the order as your evidence.
If you cannot trace the other parent, keep a record of how you tried. The court will ask.
The application is online and takes about five minutes. Have the child's current name, the new name, their date of birth and the names of everyone with parental responsibility to hand.
The document is an unenrolled deed poll, the form nearly every family uses. Enrolling it at the Royal Courts of Justice is a separate, optional step and rarely done for a child. UK Deed Poll is not a government agency.
If any organisation refuses the deed poll, you get your money back, subject to our terms. Over 900,000 deed polls have been issued in 13 years.
Once the deed poll is signed and witnessed, the child's name has changed. Records do not update themselves, though. Start with the three that matter most.
A name change means a new passport, not an amendment to the old one. Apply for a new child passport (£66.50 online or £80 on a paper form at the time of writing) and send the deed poll as evidence of the change. HM Passport Office also needs the consent of everyone with parental responsibility, so include that with the application. Our passport name change guide covers the process step by step.
Write to the school with a copy of the deed poll. Government guidance tells schools not to change a pupil's name in the admissions register unless everyone with parental responsibility has consented, and to check that for themselves rather than take one parent's word for it. So expect a request for the other parent's written agreement, or a copy of the court order. Nurseries work the same way.
Show the deed poll to your child's GP surgery and they will update the NHS record. The NHS number stays the same. The dentist, the optician and any hospital department the child attends keep their own records, so tell each one.
A name is part of how a child understands who they are, and even a six year old notices when it changes. Tell them before it happens, not after. Explain the reason in words that suit their age and give them a say where you can. Children rarely resist a change they helped to choose.
Older children tend to have firm views. The law does not require a child under 16 to consent, but a court will ask an older child's opinion if the matter goes that far, and a school will notice a child who will not answer to a new name. Listen first. Then prepare them for the questions, because teachers, friends and grandparents will all ask, and a child with a short answer ready ("Mum and I decided I would have her surname") copes far better than one caught off guard.
When an adoption order is made, the child's new name goes on the adoption certificate, which replaces the birth certificate for nearly every purpose. No deed poll is needed at that stage. A deed poll only comes into it for a later change, when the adoptive parents hold parental responsibility and give the consent.
A final order of divorce ends the marriage. It does not end the other parent's parental responsibility. If you want the child to carry your surname after the split, the other parent still has to agree, or the court has to decide. Changing your own name after a divorce is a separate and simpler job, and our guide to changing your name after divorce covers it.
Foster carers do not usually hold parental responsibility. The child's placement plan sets out who does, normally the birth parents and the local authority. Speak to the social worker and get written consent from each of them before you apply.
A deed poll works for any name, including one given at a religious ceremony or one that follows another country's naming tradition. Faith communities and foreign consulates keep their own records, so check what they need too.
You apply to the family court for a specific issue order on form C100 and ask the court to rule on the name. If the order is granted, it stands in for the missing consent and the deed poll goes ahead with the order as evidence.
Under 16, a child has no legal veto. The decision sits with the people who hold parental responsibility. Their view still matters. A court will weigh an older child's wishes, and a name a child refuses to use is not worth the paper it is printed on. Involve them early.
From 16. A 16 or 17 year old can make their own deed poll without a parent's permission and applies as an adult. Up to and including age 15, a parent or carer with parental responsibility applies on the child's behalf with a child deed poll.
Both will want the deed poll. The school will also want evidence that everyone with parental responsibility agreed, or a copy of the court order, because government guidance tells them to check. The GP surgery normally needs only the deed poll, and the child's NHS number does not change.
No. A birth certificate records the name registered at birth and a deed poll cannot rewrite it. The deed poll is the link between the old name and the new one, kept alongside the birth certificate for life. Only an adoption order produces a new certificate.
Child deed poll £22.50. Apply in five minutes, prepared today before 3pm.
Online deed poll applications for adults and children across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Questions? support@ukdeedpoll.org
