Can I change my child's name?

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Changing your child's name factsheet

If you are the only person with Parental Responsibility (which gives a parent, or an appropriate other person, the legal right to make decisions about the upbringing and care of a child), you can call your child by a new name if you want to, providing that you do not intend to use the new name to defraud or deceive someone; you simply start using a new name. You can do this for a child aged up to 16 years without their permission.

However, if a child objects to this and is mature enough to understand the consequences of what their parent is doing, he or she could apply for, and may be granted, a court order to stop the change of name.

It is important to bear in mind that even though you can change a child's name, you may not be able to alter the name on their birth certificate - see Changing a child's name on a birth certificate.

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