Birth certificate amendments - Print version

Changing the first name of your child

If you decide to change your child's first name(s) within 12 months of the date of the birth being registered, you can do so on the original birth registration.

Baptised children

If the child has been baptised in the Christian faith within 12 months of being registered you can get a form from the Register Office [/applybirthcertificateamendment] to take to the Minister of the Church where the child was baptised. Once this form has been completed it needs to be returned to the Register Office and the new names can be added. This process can be done at any time after the birth as long as the baptism took place within 12 months of the registration. You can then buy certified copies from this new registration.

• The full copy certificate will include both the original name and the new name given in baptism.
• The short version certificate will only record the child's amended baptismal forename(s).

Non-baptised children

If the child has not been baptised the parents can complete a form at the Register Office [/applybirthcertificateamendment]. Once again this can be done at any time after the birth as long as it can be proved that the change of name took place within 12 months of the birth being registered. Once the form has been completed the amended name(s) will be added to the original birth registration. Certified copies of the amended registration can then be bought.

• The full copy certificate will contain both the original name and the new name.
• The short version certificate will only record the child's amended forename.

Costs

The cost to change your child's first name(s) will be £40.

Changing the surname of your child

If the parents were not married to each other at the time of the birth and the father did not attend with the mother to register the baby it is possible to re-register the birth at any time in the future to include the father's details and change the child's surname.

Apply for a birth certificate re-registration online [/applybirthcertificateamendment]. This has to be completed by both parents.

The easiest way for the birth to be re-registered is for both parents to attend the Register Office together. But it is possible for either parent to make a statutory declaration, before a solicitor or other person legally allowed to witness an oath. It is also possible for either parent to get a Court Order naming the father. In any of these cases the birth will be registered again and new certificates will be available to buy.

If the parents were not married to each other at the time of the birth and it was decided to give the child the father's surname, you can not change the name on the register back to that of the mother. The only way is to see a solicitor and take legal action changing the surname of the child. This will not change the original birth registration. The statutory declaration or deed poll document will be attached to the birth certificate to show the child is being brought up with a different surname.

Marriage of parents

If the parents have married each other since the birth was registered, the birth should be re-registered to show the legal status of the child.

Apply for a birth certificate re-registration online [/applybirthcertificateamendment]. This has to be completed by both parents.

Either parent can then go to the Register Office with the completed form and a copy of the marriage certificate. The birth will then be re-registered and the child's surname can be changed.

New certificates will be available to buy from the registrar.

Correcting a mistake in the naming of your child at the time of registration

If you made a mistake in the original birth registration, the person who registered the birth must show proof of this.

A registration is a historic record that records the details as they were intended to be on the day the registration was completed. What information you will need to provide will depend on how soon after the birth was registered you realise a mistake has been made. If you realise you made an error within a couple of weeks you should write a letter setting out what the error is and how it was made. This letter should be sent to the Register Office which will be passed on to the Registrar General's Office who will authorise all corrections to names.

If there has been a longer gap between registration and noticing an error, as well as writing the letter setting out how the mistake was made, you will need to show proof, dated from the child's earliest days, that you are bringing up the child in a name different to the one on the register. This evidence could be in the form of a Clinic Card, NHS medical card or bank book. The letter, along with the evidence, will then be sent to the Registrar General's office for consideration.

Apply for a birth certificate amendment online [/applybirthcertificateamendment]

Fees for consideration of a correction

• £75 to your local register office for consideration
• £90 if the documents need to be sent to the Registrar General for consideration