Blog Article

Changing name has become a common practice these days in India. Every individual has the right to change his or her name, though there are certain limitations for this. Name change cannot be done to mislead others or to escape one’s liability or to commit a crime or even using the name of famous persons to impersonate etc.

Procedure To Change Name In India

The person going for a change of name should be of age 18 years or above. Below are the steps one need to follow for changing one’s name in India.

Make an Affidavit

1. 1. Prepare an Affidavit for name change. You can use our drafts available online- name change affidavit online, change name after marriage or Annexure D affidavit if you need name change after marriage while applying for a passport. The affidavit should mention your old name, the new name, father’s name or husband’s name, residential address, etc.
   2. Get the affidavit attested by a First class Judicial Magistrate/Notary/Oath Commissioner.

Place Newspaper Advertisement

1. 1. Prepare a newspaper ad mentioning your change of name from old name to new name. You need to mention your father’s name and residential address in the ad.
   2. Publish the ad in one of the local language newspapers and also in an English newspaper.
   3. News paper ad format

Submit papers for Gazette Publication

This is not a mandatory step for any common person, but many banks require Gazette publication copy to update KYC records. For a person in the Government service or defence or appearing for any government exams Gazette publication is mandatory.

1. 1. You can file your application with State or Central Govt. This section covers the procedure for Central Govt. Please contact your State Gazette office for instructions specific to the State.
   2. Next step is to fill this particular form, and you have to sign it in your old name. Two Witnesses should sign this form. Take duplicate copies of this form.
   3. Two self-attested passport size photographs.
   4. Prepare a covering letter.
   5. Send all these to the Department of Publication: 2 passport size photographs, covering letter, affidavit, form and newspaper ads by registered post or in person.
   6. You need to pay Rs. 700 or 900 in the form of cash in advance or Demand Draft.

Once this procedure is done and your application with all the original documents is received, the Government will print your change of name in the Gazette. It may take up to 30 days.

LegalDesk can help you get your name change published in the Gazette. Please contact us for help.

Reasons For Name Change

Marriage

The most common reason to change one’s name is usually marriage and divorce. After marriage many women tend to change their name by adding their spouse name. In such needs you can use our affidavit for name change after marriage. For this you require a valid marriage certificate.

Divorce

After getting a divorce, most women tend to bounce back to their maiden name. For this you can use our affidavit for name change after divorce. For this you need a valid order of divorce from the Court.

Spelling Errors

It is common to find some errors in the spelling of our names in any certificates or Government documents like driving licence or passport etc. In such cases, many individuals plan to change their names rectifying the errors in the spelling. These also amount to name change. In this case you need to make One and the Same Person Affidavit.

Addition or Deletion of Alphabets

Some people opt to add or delete certain alphabets from their name to support their belief in numerology etc. This is the most common trend in our society. Even famous people go for this kind of name changes Eg. Anand may become Aanand, or Pritam may become Preetam etc. In this case also you need to make an Affidavit to declare that you have used two names and both belong to the same person.