Having changed my first name legally a couple of years back, I would like to share with you the procedure to do the same. Change of name can be for reasons of personal preference, marriage, change of religion, etc. Either way, the procedure and rules remain the same. The only condition is that you must be over 18 years of age to change your own name. For minors, parents can do it on your behalf.
1. The first step is to get submit an Affidavit of Name Change in your respective District Court (e.g. Mayo Hall in Bangalore) before a Magistrate or Notary Public. The Affidavit must mention the current name and the desired new name, and may mention in brief the reason for name change. The Affidavit must be made on a Non-Judicial Stamp Paper of minimal value (say Rs. 10 or Rs. 20). An advocate can help you prepare the Affidavit in a legally appropriate format.
You may be required to attest proof of Indian citizenship with the Affidavit. Once the Affidavit is signed by the Magistrate or Notary, it comes into force immediately.
2. The next step is to publish advertisements announcing your name change in two local newspapers – one in the local official language and another in English. This is required as per law, so that if anyone has objections to your name change, they may have an opportunity to take it up with the authorities. Of course, in vast majority of cases there are no objections at all.
3. The third step is to publish an advertisement of your name change in the Official Gazette of your respective state (also called a Gazette Notification). For this purpose, you must approach the Government Press of your respective state and fill up the form for the same, giving details such as old and new name, address, etc. Then you must pay the prescribed fees. Your name change notification will be published in the state’s Official Gazette and you will be sent copies of the same at the address given by you.
NOTE: In case your state does not allow printing of name change in its Official Gazette, you can get your name change notification published in the Gazette of India. To do so, follow the procedure outlined here: http://deptpub.nic.in/forms/forms%5B10%5D.pdf
With the Gazette Notification, the name change is officially complete.
4. The next step is to apply for name change in all other official documents such as Passport, PAN Card, Driving License, Ration Card, etc. The above documents (copies of Affidavit, newspaper ads and Gazette Notification) should suffice as proof of name change.
- Accepted documents for name change in Passport: http://passport.gov.in/cpv/checklist.htm
- Accepted documents for name change in PAN card: https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/InstructionsCorr.html#instruct_documents
NOTE: For married women applying for name change due to marriage, a copy of Marriage Certificate is enough for changing name in all Government documents. If Marriage Certificate is not available, a Joint Affidavit by husband and wife with a joint photograph declaring their marriage should be adequate.
5. Lastly, you must apply for name change in bank accounts. For this, you can submit Affidavit and Gazette Notification as proof of name change, and new Passport, PAN card, DL, etc. as proof of ID.
6. As for changing name in educational certificates, you can try if you have a lot of patience and free time. This is because getting educational certificates re-issued in new name will require lot of correspondence and paperwork with various institutions, depending on how many degrees you have! Additionally, it is not strictly necessary to have educational certificates in the new name once you start working and have professional work experience.
Hi, I’m a 2nd year engineering student. I want to change my first name from Siddhartha to Siddharth. How can I do this?? My 3rd year registration begins this July. Please help me with this at the earliest.
Hi , Vijay,
I wish to change my parents name in all my ID Proof’s, can you please give me an email id, where i can send you in detail what is my concern,
Vijay,
I followed your process. I dont have any address proof for the new name. I dont have any document apart from newspaper ads of the new name.
The passport department is asking for the address proof of the new name ?
Where should i start from . I dont think banks would change my name in their records based on newspaper ads.
You can update your bank accounts based on the Affidavit and newspaper cuttings. Some may ask for Gazette Notification as well. Once these are done, you can update your Passport. If you have updated Passport first, you can collect your new Passport by showing your address proof in old name along with proof of name change.
Hi Vijay,
I got to know that Karnataka Gazette publication department doesn’t allow publishing of name change of non-government employees.
As you had mentioned that you got your name changed in Bangalore, please let me know whether you were able to get your name change published in Karnataka Gazette.
Also please let me know the address of Karnataka Gazette publication department in Bangalore if you were able to get the publication in Karnataka Gazette.
I went through Form10 of Gazette notification of India, they are expecting two attested passport photographs. From whom I have to get the photos attested.
Thanks for the help.
Thanks & Regards
Rajesh
Hi,all my educational records(10th,PU and BE) bear the name sumath kumar .M but i want to change it to sumanth kumar .M so only “n” is additional in my new name.should i go for name change legally.
I currently working in Pvt company and i thought to apply for visa and govt job with new name will it cause any problem?
plz reply me asap..
Tanks..
Sir ,
1. Is this the stringent procedure that has to be followed for a person to change the name (for minors as well as majors) in every state ??
2. I just delivered my baby and registered her name in the Chennai corporation. I have her original birth certificate with me. My husband and I are not in good terms and are living separately for last 6 months. (not divorced). Now he is not approving of the name that I have kept and wants to change the name. I dont want him to do that without me knowing.. How can i stop him from doing that ???
3. Does this legal procedure mentioned above require that both mother and father have to sign the affidavit incase of minor..
I suggest you consult a lawyer for this. I am not a legal expert.
very comprehensive and required info. thanks for this article.
hello sir
my name is jithendra i am from AndhraPradesh actually the problem is my grandmother legally written some land property to my dad but she forgot to write the door number in that document
now there is no problem belonging to that property, but the problem is my grandmother name is coming in house tax. sir please suggest how to change my grandmother name to my father’s name
Go to your municipal corporation ward office and enquire about the procedure to change the name in the property tax records.
i m PG student now. wan to change my name in all certificate. will u help me PLZ…